Joliet Slams CornBelters 5-3
July 8, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
JOLIET - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, scored first but gave up a big first inning as they fell to the Joliet Slammers 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Silver Cross Field.
The CornBelters reached Slammers starter Steven Maxwell right away for a pair of runs in the first inning. Alvaro Ramirez led off with a single and went to third on a double to left by Chico Gomez. Ramirez scored when Pat Trettel's ground ball was thrown wide to the plate, and Gomez came home on a base hit by Trey Manz.
The Slammers also wasted little time reaching Belters starter Tyler Lavigne. Patrick Norris led off with a single up the middle and stole second, then scored on a line single to center by Hector Pellot to cut the Normal lead to 2-1. Pellot went to third on a hit by Erik Lis and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-2. Joliet took a 4-2 lead when David Fox took the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a two-run homer.
Joliet increased the lead to 5-2 with Fox's third RBI of the day, a broken-bat single to left that scored Abel Nieves, who has reached with a base hit with one out.
The Belters cut the deficit to 5-3 with a two-out rally in the fifth when Alvaro Ramirez doubled and was plated by a base hit from Chico Gomez.
Maxwell (5-4) earned the win with his eight-inning performance. Amalio Diaz struck out the side in the ninth to record his 10th save. Lavigne (3-4) went 6.2 innings in the loss.
Earlier on Sunday, the CornBelters traded pitchers Estevan Uriegas and Marshall Schuler to the Gary Southshore Railcats of the American Association for Ernie Banks Jr. and K.C. Judge. Uriegas was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four appearances for the CornBelters. Schuler holds the CornBelters franchise record for appearances (53) and was 1-2 with five saves and a 4.00 ERA in 19 appearances this season.
Regular season activity in the circuit breaks until Friday for the 2012 Frontier League All-Star Game presented by State Farm at the Corn Crib in Normal. The All-Star Luncheon featuring keynote speaker Mike Veeck is at noon on Tuesday the Marriott Hotel in uptown Normal, the Home Run Derby presented by State Farm begins at 6:30 on Tuesday evening with the game on Wednesday at 6:30. Fireworks are planned for both nights, and a party featuring local recording artist Brushfire follows the game on Wednesday. The game can be heard on WJBC-FM 93.7 and WJBC.com and viewed at stlsportsproductions.com with the WJBC CornBelters call. More information on the week's activities can be found at www.normalbaseball.com or by calling 309-454-BALL (2255).
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