By Greg Halbleib
NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters clinched the Frontier League West Division with a 4-3 victory over the Evansville Otters on Tuesday night at the Corn Crib.
The Otters broke open the scoring in the third inning with a one-out double to the right field corner by Chris Elder and an RBI single by Cory Urquhart. John Schultz and Shayne Houck drove in two more runs with singles for the fourth and fifth consecutive hits of the inning to give the guests a 3-0 lead.
The CornBelters drew three walks to lead off the sixth inning and finally broke through on a sacrifice fly by Sam Judah and an RBI single by Cameron Monger followed by a two-run double just inside third base by Ozney Guillen to give the Belters a 4-3 lead and end the night for Otters starter Brett Marshall (5-2).
Kevin Johnson (8-5) earned the win with six innings of work, surrendering three runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Race Parmenter pitched the ninth for his 21st save.
The CornBelters (57-34) clinch their first-ever division title in their first playoff-qualifying season. The Otters (48-43) hold the third of four wild card berths with five games remaining.
The series continues Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at the Corn Crib as former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen manages the Belters in Brooks Carey’s absence. The Belters send right-hander Mike Schweiss (8-7, 3.24 ERA) to the mound against Otters lefty Hunter Ackerman (0-2, 3.04). Wednesday’s broadcast on WJBC.com begins at 6:20 p.m. from the Corn Crib.
