By Normal Cornbelters
O’FALLON, Mo. – The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, recorded big innings in the first two frames on the way to their second straight win, an 11-6 triumph over the River City Rascals on Sunday afternoon at CarShield Field.
The CornBelters attacked immediately by scoring five times in the first inning on RBIs from an Aaron Dudley double, a Dillon Haupt single and a three-run homer by R.J. Perucki.The Rascals answered with a solo home run to left in their opening frame by Josh Silver but the Belters countered in the second inning with a three-run homer just over the short porch in right center by Dudley to put the guests ahead 8-1.A two-run drive high into the left center field bleachers by Mike Jurgella in the Rascals second inning cut the Normal lead to 8-3.
River City chalked up an unearned run in the fourth with a two-out RBI single by Jason Merjano one batter after an error extended the inning.The CornBelters increased their lead to 10-4 in the fifth inning with a two-out rally capped by a two-run single to center by Michael Skoller and a base hit by Dudley for his fifth run batted in on the afternoon.Silver delivered his second home run of the afternoon on a screaming line drive to the top of the left field bleachers to lead off the fifth inning and cut the Rascals deficit to 11-5. River City’s second unearned run of the day crossed the plate in the sixth inning with another two-out rally extended by an error and capped by a Merjano single to cut the Belters lead to 11-6.Josh Ludy tripled off the right center field wall to score Johnny Morales, who led off the seventh inning with a double, followed by an RBI double high off the big wall in right field by Clint Freeman and a sacrifice fly by Kyle Gaedale to slice the Rascals disadvantage to 11-9.
The CornBelters increased their lead to 12-9 with an unearned run in the eighth inning on a single by Dylan Kelly that was misplayed to allow Dudley to score.Eddie Cody earned the win in his CornBelters debut with five innings on the mound, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits with one strikeout without a walk. Jack Duffey gave up five runs in the first inning and took the loss in his debut for the Rascals. Kevin Jefferis worked the final two innings for his first save.
The Belters take Memorial Day off before beginning a six-game home stand on Tuesday against the Washington Wild Things. Game times are 6:35 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 4:35 p.m. Sunday. Tuesday’s series opener is Strike Out Hunger Night when fans are asked to be cans of food and other non-perishable items with anyone bringing three or more cans receiving half-price admission.
Stay social with the CornBelters at http://twitter.com/normal_baseball, http://www.facebook.com/CornBelters and http://www.youtube.com/normalcornbelters.
