Traverse City Magic Number Is One
August 23, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Traverse City Beach Bums News Release
NORMAL, IL - The Traverse City Beach Bums set a franchise record with their 58th win as two runs in the ninth inning gave the Beach Bums a 5-3 win over the Normal CornBelters.
The win, coupled with losses by Windy City and Schaumburg lowered the Beach Bums magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one.
With the game tied at 3-3 heading into the ninth, Ryan Still led off the inning with a walk. It was his third of the game and the 100th of the season for the Beach Bums second baseman making him the first player in Frontier League history to accomplish the feat. Brian Heere came up next and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Still to second. That brought Jose Vargas to the plate. Vargas unloaded on a Brendon Smith offering, bouncing it over the wall in center for a ground rule double to plate Still and give TC a 4-3 lead. Two batter later Jeff Flagg singled home Vargas to make it 5-3.
Scott Mueller (2-5) picked up the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. Mueller came on after Scott Dunn gave the Beach Bums 3.2 scoreless frames out of the bullpen, tying a career high with six strikeouts. Matt Miller got Bobby Rinard to bounce into a double play to end the game for his ninth save of the year.
Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Traverse City drew even as after a leadoff single by Brian Heere, Chase Burch lined a ball over the leftfield wall for a two-run homer and a 3-3 tie.
The Beach Bums jumped out in the first inning when with runners on first and second, Chase Burch singled through the left side to score Ryan Still who had walked to lead off the inning. Normal countered in the bottom of the frame when Tyler Wiesemeyer came in on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1.
The CornBelters took the lead in the third as a single by Wiesemeyer led off the inning followed by a triple off the bat of Bobby Rinard made it 2-1. Two batters later, Steven Felix singled home Rinard for a 3-1 Normal edge.
Traverse City now gets on the Air Bear bus to head to Lake Erie for a three game set against the Crushers. Reid Kelly (8-3, 3.64) will get the start for Traverse City against Eric Gonzalez-Diaz (7-7, 4.25) for Lake Erie. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST with the pregame show on Sunny Country 101.9 beginning at 6:45 p.m. For tickets to all Beach Bums home games, call 943-0100, visit tcbeachbums.com or stop by the Wuerfel Park ticket office.
Frontier League Stories from August 23, 2012
- Rascals Lose Series to Miners - River City Rascals
- Fowler and Co. Defeat River City - Southern Illinois Miners
- First Place Grizzlies Shutout ThunderBolts for Series Sweep - Gateway Grizzlies
- Grand Slam Lifts Wild Things to Sweep of RiverHawks - Rockford RiverHawks
- Wild Things sweep RiverHawks - Washington Wild Things
- Traverse City Magic Number Is One - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Crushers clobber Road Warriors, 17-5 - Lake Erie Crushers
- Boomers Turn First-Ever Triple Play in 4-2 Defeat - Schaumburg Boomers
- CornBelters lose 5-3 - Normal CornBelters
- Evansville Eeks out Win in Series Finale at Schaumburg - Evansville Otters
- Freedom Jump out to Early Lead and Hold on to Sweep Joliet - Joliet Slammers
- Freedom Win 5th Straight, Sweep Joliet - Florence Y'alls
- RiverHawks' Final Weekend at Home Packed with Fun - Rockford RiverHawks
- August 23 Joliet Slammers Game Notes - Joliet Slammers
- Other Show in Town Also Fighting for Playoffs - Florence Y'alls
- Miners Even Series with 10-5 Win - River City Rascals
- Hall's Perfection Continues - Southern Illinois Miners
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
