Miners Roar Back Late to Best Beach Bums
August 29, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Miners and Traverse City Beach Bums played another close ballgame at Rent One Park on Friday night, and with a tied score in the bottom of the eighth, the Miners plated four runs, all with two outs against a familiar face to win 6-2 in front of a crowd over four-thousand strong, lowering their magic number to clinch the East Division title down to just three in thrilling fashion.
Neither side was able to score through the first four innings, as Miguel Ramirez and Michael Shreves each kept the opposition down. The Miners were able to break through first, as Jerrud Sabourin doubled with one out in the bottom of the fifth and moved to third on a wild pitch by Shreves before Steve Marino drove him home with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Southern Illinois could not hold that lead, however, as former Miner Jay Austin hit a one-out single in the sixth and was balked to second base before Jose Vargas tied the score on another single at 1-1. Later in the inning with two outs, Reggie Lawson fisted a single into right to chase Ramirez and give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
The Miners were again resilient, though, and immediately re-tied the score in the bottom of the sixth. Toby DeMello singled past a diving Vargas to lead off, then stole his first base of the season to get to second before Craig Massey singled him home and tied the game at 2-2. The score remained tied until the bottom of the eighth, when after Evan Mott (4-3) got a big double-play grounder to erase a single in the top half of the frame, the Miners went to work against former Miner Alan Oaks (3-3).
Marquis Riley led off with a single, but the Miners could not move him over to second with DeMello or Massey. With two outs, Riley stole second base and after Aaron Gates walked, Michael Earley worked the count full against Oaks. With the runners in motion, the Miners' outfielder singled the other way into right, putting the Miners ahead 3-2. Frank Martinez then padded the lead by driving home both Gates and Earley on a double over Lawson's head in right, making it 5-2 before Sabourin singled home Martinez for the final margin.
Earley finished with two hits, extending his hitting streak to 15 in a row, while Sabourin also had two hits in the Miners' 22nd come-from-behind win of the year. They improved their record to 59-29 to match their season-best high-water mark of 30 games over .500 and take the series opener from the Beach Bums. They will go for a series win on Saturday at 6:05 p.m., with the starters for both teams yet to be determined.
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