Normal Falls in Series Finale to Lake Erie
June 15, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
Sam Vega of the Normal CornBelters slides safely home
(Normal CornBelters, Credit: Brittnie Jackson)
NORMAL, Ill. - The (11-17) Normal CornBelters brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth, but were unable to rally and fell in the series finale to the (18-12) Lake Erie Crushers on Thursday night.
Normal didn't waste any time to get the offense going in the final game of the homestand. Santiago Chirino reached third after a throwing error by the Lake Erie third baseman. A line out later, Andrew Godbold reached on an infield single that scored Chirino for the first run of the game. The Belter backstop, Tanner Lubach kept the bottom half alive with his team-leading ninth double to center field to push the lead to 2-0.
Lake Erie went on to tie the game after putting up runs in the second and fourth. In the second, Derrick Loveless worked his first of three walks to maintain his league-leading on-base streak of 28 games.
Normal regained their two-run advantage in the fourth. Joel Davis roped a tripled that scored Sam Vega who reached on a walk. On the next pitch, Justin Fletcher was hit by a pitch. The CornBelters then took advantage of a wild pitch that brought around Davis to take a 4-2 lead.
While starter Kevin Matthews only lasted four innings, the lefty pitched decently. He was tagged for two earned runs due to the Normal defense struggling again for the second game in a row with two errors.
The Crusher bats stayed hot and matched Normal, scoring two runs in the fifth to tie the game off an error by Cody Erickson. Nick Bozman came in and retired his former club in order to end the inning.
In the sixth, the Belters had their best chance to take back the lead and possibly put the game out of reach. Normal loaded the bases with one out and the heart of the order due up. Godbold singled to left for his second hit and RBI of the game to bring in Fletcher. However, the Crushers bullpen limited the threat to one run.
Lake Eire then added to their lead by putting up three runs in the seventh off Mark Hendricks and one run in ninth. Trevor Simms stopped the game from getting out of reach after getting a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the seventh.
The CornBelters brought up the tying run to the plate in the ninth with Erickson, but he grounded out to end the series finale. Normal is back on the road tomorrow against the Windy City Thunderbolts with first pitch is at 7:05 p.m.
Images from this story
 Sam Vega of the Normal CornBelters slides safely home (Brittnie Jackson) |
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