By Greg Halbleib
NORMAL. – The Normal CornBelters got out of bases-loaded jams in the seventh and ninth innings and won their eighth straight game, 8-6 over the Schaumburg Boomers on Friday night at the Corn Crib.
The CornBelters tallied first on a home run to left center by Cameron Monger in the second inning. The Boomers tied the game when Cam Sherrer led off the third inning with a walk and was driven home by a double to right center by Michael Valadez.
Schaumburg took the lead in the fourth inning on doubles from Ken Kirshner and Ty Nelson followed by RBI singles by T.J. Bennett, Sherrer and Valadez for a 5-1 advantage.
Sam Judah slammed a bomb to the batting cage beyond center field to lead off the Belters fourth and cut the deficit to 5-2. Jason Merjano laced an opposite-field single to left to score Ozney Guillen to slice the margin to 5-3 later in the frame, followed by a two-run double to the right field corner by Santiago Chirino for a tie game. Aaron Dudley completed the fourth-inning scoring with a two-run homer to the left of the corn in the right center field berm for a 7-5 lead.
The Boomers scored a lead-off walk in the fifth inning with a fielder’s choice to cut the lead to 7-6, but the Belters got the run back with a bases-loaded walk to Tyler Shover in the sixth inning for an 8-6 advantage.
Kevin Jefferis (2-0) took the win with three and one-third innings of relief while Boomers starter Evan Boyd (0-6) took the loss. Cody Gappa pitched the final two and one-third innings for his first save.
The CornBelters continue the series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at the Corn Crib as Jake Negrete (3-0, 2.17 ERA) starts on the mound for the CornBelters and Brett Mabry (7-3, 3.22) throws for the Boomers in a match-up of right-handers. Broadcast time on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com is 6:20 with listen links found on the CornBelters’ Facebook and Twitter (@normal_baseball) and www.normalbaseball.com.
