Heere Homer Gives Beach Bums Walkoff Win
July 31, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Traverse City Beach Bums News Release
TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Brian Heere hit a one out homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to lft the Traverse City Beach Bums to a 5-4 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts.
Early on, it looked like late heroics wouldn't be a part of the equation as the Beach Bums got off to a fast start. A walk by Ryan Still followed by a single by Jose Vargas and a hit batsman to Chase Burch loaded the bases, bringing up Jeff Flagg. On a 2-1 pitch from Blayne Weller, Flagg attempted to hold up his swing, but wound up making contact with the ball. It was a good thing for Traverse City that he did as the ball lined past the first baseman and down the rightfield line to score Still and Vargas, moving Burch to third. A wild pitch by Weller then brought home Burch for a 3-0 TC lead.
Traverse City would build the lead to 4-0 in the second when Still lifted a sac fly to center to score Kyle Eveland who led off the inning being hit by a pitch and moved to third on a Heere single.
Windy City got their first baserunner and run on the board in the fourth on a Chad Cregar homer to make it 4-1. From there, Jacob Clem resumed mowing down ThunderBolts batters, taking a three-hitter into the ninth. After surrendering a leadoff single to Mike Torres, Clem struck out Chris Wade for the first out of the inning before hitting Cregar with a pitch and being taken out to a standing ovation. The Beach Bums bullpen could not hold the lead, however, as a walk to Bob Glover and a single by Ryan Cuneo made it 4-2. Two batters later Brandon Decker would single with the bases loaded, scoring two runs to tie the game.
Traverse City had a chance in the tenth, but were unable to convert, setting up Heere's 11th inning blast.
The win went to Matt Miller (4-3) who retired all seven batters he faced closing out the game. Clem was strong for the Beach Bums going 8.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits. Willy Kesler (0-1) took the loss for Windy City.
The middle game of the series is on Wednesday where Traverse City will celebrate Suntan and Sunburn's birthday at Wuerfel Park. It is also a Weenie Wednesday with $1 off all hot dogs, Johnsonville Brats and the half-pound Hawg Dog. Bennett Whitmore (5-3, 4.20) will get the start for the Beach Bums against Tyson Corley (2-6, 3.56) for the ThunderBolts. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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