FL Joliet Slammers

Slammers Win a Thriller at Normal 5-4 on Wednesday

Published on July 9, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
Joliet Slammers News Release


The Joliet Slammers-Presented by ATI Physical Therapy- won a wild one 5-4 on Wednesday against the Normal CornBelters.

The Slammers took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning on a long solo homer from Grant DeBruin. That extended his hitting streak to 12 games and now means he has hit safely in 21 of his last 22 games. DeBruin also took the league lead in hits at 64 with that home run. Normal pitcher Mike Devine settled down after that however and retired the next 16 straight Slammers. Meanwhile, Joliet's Andrew Busby was pitching well too. He allowed a run on a double-play off the bat of Mike Schwartz in the 3rd inning to tie the game at 1-1. By then he had allowed six hits through three innings but had given up just that one run. He went on a roll himself then, going the next four straight innings without allowing another hit.

In the top of the 8th, Joliet took a 2-1 lead. Jose Garcia walked and advance to 2nd base on a bunt from Seth Granger. Garcia scored on a RBI single to right off of reliever Alan Oaks. He entered the game as an All-Star out of the bullpen with a 0.84 ERA. In the bottom of the 8th, Busby gave up a leadoff single to Tyler Shover, his first hit allowed since the 3rd inning. Santiago Chirino also singled and then with 2 outs, Sam Judah hit a 3-run home run to give Normal a 4-2 lead. In the top of the 9th for Joliet, still facing Oaks, Russell Moldenhauer singled. DeBruin walked and with two outs, Jose Garcia came up. With a 3-2 count and Joliet down to their final strike, Garcia crushed a long 3-run homer down the leftfield line to give the Slammers a 5-4 lead. Jordan Wellander had come in to get the final out of the 8th and retired the side in order in the bottom of the 9th to give the Slammers a thrilling late rally win.

The Slammers continue their 8-game road trip on Thursday at 7pm against the CornBelters. Joliet will then open a series on Schaumburg on Friday night at 6:30pm. Those two teams will then play a 5pm doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping things up on Sunday at 1pm. The All-Star Break then begins as Joliet will host the Dutch National Women's Fastpitch Softball team in an exhibition game on Monday July 14 at 7pm at Silver Cross Field. Slammers action this summer will be broadcast live on 1340 WJOL and wjol.com and the audio/video feed of home games this season can be seen at independentprofessionalbaseball.com.

The Joliet Slammers presented by ATI Physical Therapy play at Silver Cross Field in downtown Joliet, Illinois, and are members of the professional, independent Frontier League. The Frontier League is a 14-team league entering its 22nd season of play in 2014. Full, partial, and group tickets are available by calling the Slammers office at (815) 722-BATS or by visiting www.jolietslammers.com.

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Frontier League Stories from July 9, 2014


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