FL Southern Illinois Miners

Miners Come Back, Beat Boomers in Thirteen to Even Series

Published on July 30, 2016 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release


Marion, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Miners were down 2-1 to the Schaumburg Boomers entering the ninth inning before rallying to tie the score in the frame to send the game to extra innings, then kept it tied until the thirteenth inning, when they score two runs and held off a Boomers rally in the bottom half to win 4-3, evening the series at one game apiece.

The game was a pitcher's duel nearly the entire way- Schaumburg right-hander Brett Mabry and Southern Illinois' Corey Sessions, making his pro debut in the game, were both sharp early. In the fourth, the Miners broke on top when Nolan Earley doubled to left-center and Alex De Leon reached on an error. After a fielder's choice by Aaron Gates with no one put out on the play, Steve Marino's double-play ball to shortstop retired two but scored one for a 1-0 lead. Sessions shut the Boomers out through five innings with five strikeouts in his first outing as a pro, but allowed a run in the sixth inning when, on a fly ball into the Schaumburg bullpen that Shane Kennedy caught for an out with runners at second and third, Zack Weigel barely beat the throw home to tie the score at 2-2.

Schaumburg then rallied to take the lead in the next inning when Kyle Tinius walked the leadoff batter in Mikal Hill, who ended up scoring on an RBI single by James Keller to give the Boomers a 3-2 lead. The score remained 3-2 until the ninth inning, and Earley led off against Boomers closer Dexter Price with a fly ball to left that was lost in the sky by Argenis Aldazoro for a double. De Leon reached on another error, and Gates hit a ground ball to the right side for an RBI fielder's choice to even the score once again, at 3-3.

The game went to extra innings, and then to the 11th with the International Tiebreaker rule in effect. In the eleventh, after the Miners failed to score with an automatic runner at second base, the Boomers loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom half. Chris DeBoo was able to get out of the enormous jam with three flyouts and send the game to the twelfth, where again neither team was able to break the tie score.

In the thirteenth, the Miners finally took the lead as after a wild pitch moved the automatic runner to third base, Edison Sanchez brought Julius Gaines home on a sacrifice fly for a 4-3 Miners advantage. But Southern Illinois was not done, as Kennedy singled and stole second base, moving to third on a ground ball before scoring on another wild pitch by Ken Knudsen (0-2), making the score 4-2 Miners.

In the bottom half of the inning against Nick Palacios, Weigel doubled leading off to score the automatic runner from second and make it 4-3. But Palacios (3-0) got a flyout to right for the first out, and after walking Paul Kronenfeld, got Mark Nelson to ground to third base for a game-ending double play.

Earley led the way in the game by going 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored, extending his hitting streak to thirteen games in a row, while Kennedy went 1-for-5 with a walk and a run scored, extending his hitting streak to eleven in a row. The Miners won despite having just four hits in the game, snapping a three-game slide and improving to 44-20 on the season.

The Miners and Boomers will play a rubber match on Sunday to decide the series at 1:00 p.m., with Dyllon Nuernberg pitching for Southern Illinois against Schaumburg right-hander Seth Webster.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the back-to-back Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

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Frontier League Stories from July 30, 2016


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