London Tops CornBelters 9-7
June 6, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
LONDON, Ontario - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, came from behind with a huge sixth inning, but lost after former CornBelter Mark Samuelson hit a walk-off home run for a 9-7 London Rippers victory on Wednesday night at Labatt Memorial Park.
The CornBelters took advantage of some wildness from Rippers starter Eric Katzman, whose three walks loaded the bases in the first inning and allowed Pat McKenna to score the game's first run on a wild pitch. The Rippers quickly answered off Normal starter Austin Bailey, who hit the first two Rippers. Joash Brodin drove in one run with a single to right, and Mark Samuelson cleared the right field wall with a three-run homer to give the Rippers a 4-1 lead after one inning.
London added another run in the second when scheduled CornBelters starter Justin Albert took over on the mound for Bailey. Albert hit Joash Brodin with a pitch with two outs, and after stealing second, Brodin scored on a base hit by David Christensen to put the Rippers ahead 5-1 going into the third innings.
The Belters used errant pitching to their benefit again in the sixth, scoring six times to take a 7-5 lead on four walks and three hits. A two-run double by Steven Felix and RBIs from Pat McKenna, Jordan Stouffer, Pat Trettel and Chico Gomez accounted for the scoring.
The Rippers got a run back when former CornBelter Brad Agustin led off the eighth with a double, went to third on a base hit and scored during a two-out rundown to cut the Belters lead to 7-6.
London's theatrics in the ninth were set up by a one-out walk to Joash Brodin followed by a double by David Christensen. The CornBelters elected to pitch to Samuelson, who hit a 1-1 pitch high over the right center scoreboard for his second three-run homer of the game to end the contest.
Normal reliever Marshall Schuler fell to 1-1 with the loss, while Rippers reliever Adam Arnold pitched a scoreless ninth for the win to improve to 2-2.
The CornBelters conclude their series in Canada on Thursday night as right-hander Daniel Britt (1-1, 4.34 ERA) is the probable starter for Normal. Pre-game on WJBC.com begins at 5:20 with first pitch at 5:30 Central. The CornBelters then finish their two-week road trip with a weekend series in suburban Pittsburgh against the Washington Wild Things.
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