Grizzlies Bats Hibernate, Belters Take over 1st Place
July 28, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
NORMAL, Ill. - After the Normal CornBelters (32-30) started the 2018 season 1-6, they have had to claw their way all season along and with their 7-0 shutout win over the Gateway Grizzlies (28-39) on Saturday night, Normal now owns 1st place outright in the West Division.
"This is normal for me, starting out slow. I even told you guys, be patient with the plan here and what we are trying to do. We brought in the right ingredients over the All-Star break and its paying dividends. We still have a long way to go. Yeah alright, we are in first place today, but we got to worry about tomorrow. Those guys (Gateway) aren't going to just come out, lay down and die, and give us the sweep," said Manager Billy Horn
The CornBelters again got on the board in the first. James Davison Jr. began the scoring with a single into left field and followed with his eighth stolen base, then advanced to third on an error. Santiago Chirino tripled down the right-field line to go up 1-0. Derrick Loveless pushed the Normal lead to 2-0 on a ground rule double that one-hopped the right-field wall.
In the fifth, the CornBelters bats ignited again. Gerald Bautista and Cody Erickson knocked back-to-back singles then Michael Baca drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Davison Jr brought in the first of four runs on a sacrifice fly. Chi Chi followed with his second extra-base hit of the night that brought in Erickson and Baca also scored from a throwing error to give the Belters a 5-0 lead. Loveless made it 6-0 and ended the outburst with his second hit and RBI.
Jack Landwehr (5-3) bounced back from his worst start of the season to earn his fifth win. The former Illinois State product threw seven shutout innings, which tied his season high. Landwehr only allowed three walks and added five strikeouts to hits total of 45 in 58.2 innings. His 10th start was concluded as Chirino turned a double play to end the Grizzlies best threat in the seventh.
"It's been great to have a guy like Jack here on our staff. He fills it up, gets ahead of a lot of counts and most of the time he puts away his hitters. He is an absolute competitor." "If he can just keep getting ahead and give us a chance to win, we are going to be alright down the stretch."
Chris Iriart avoided the golden sombrero in style in the eighth. He launched his 17th home run that gave Normal a 7-0 lead and is now tied for the League-leading. Anthony Herrera came in and finished off the eighth and ninth to clinch the series.
With the CornBelters win tonight, they own 1st place in the West Division outright for the first time this season. The series concludes tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. as the Belters look to earn their second sweep at home this season and send Nick Bozman to the mound.
Frontier League Stories from July 28, 2018
- Grizzlies Bats Hibernate, Belters Take over 1st Place - Normal CornBelters
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- Early Runs Doom Beach Bums against Washington - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Joliet Offense Ignites in Game 2 vs Schaumburg - Joliet Slammers
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- Thunderbolts zap Crushers - Lake Erie Crushers
- ThunderBolts Bounce Back, Beat Lake Erie - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Florence Falls to Miners in Extras - Florence Y'alls
- Offense Surges to Take Series Opener over Gateway - Normal CornBelters
- Miners Walk off over Freedom for Fourth Straight Win - Southern Illinois Miners
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