
By Mike Raines- Normal Cornbelters
WASHINGTON, PA– The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, did not score after loading the bases in the eighth and ninth innings and lost in walk-off fashion 2-1 to the Washington Wild Things on Saturday night at CONSOL Energy Park.
The Wild Things opened the scoring by loading the bases with nobody out and scoring on a C.J. Beatty ground out for a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning.
The CornBelters broke through in the seventh inning when Sam Judah doubled to the right center field wall to score Richard Lucas from first base.
The Belters put the first two hitters aboard and loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth but failed to score, and also loaded the bases in the ninth inning and came up empty.
The Wild Things captured the win by loading the bases with one out and capturing the victory when a hard line drive hit to third base by Danny Poma popped off the mitt and rolled into left field.
Jonathan Kountis (1-1) pitched the final two-thirds of the ninth inning to get out of the jam and receive the win. Marc Rutledge (1-4) pitched the ninth inning and received the loss in his CornBelters debut.
The CornBelters conclude the brief road trip on Sunday with a 1:35 p.m. Central first pitch in suburban Pittsburgh. Left-hander Tim Flight (2-4, 3.54 ERA) starts on the mound for the Wild Things while the Belters starter has not been named. Broadcast time on WJBC.com is 1:20.