By WJBC Staff
CRESTWOOD – The Normal CornBelters put together four big innings and captured a 9-3 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts on Tuesday night at Standard Bank Stadium.
The CornBelters dented the scoreboard in their first at bat as Mark Micowski and Pat McKenna walked and moved into scoring position on a fielder’s choice, followed by a two-out flare single to right center by Aaron Dudley to give the guests an early 2-0 lead.
Jim Vahalik took the first pitch he saw in a Normal uniform over the center field wall in the second inning for a two-run homer to increase the advantage to 4-0.
Dudley registered two more RBIs in the third inning with a double into the right field corner to score McKenna and Sam Judah for a 6-0 cushion.
The ThunderBolts broke through in the third inning with a one-out RBI single from Jonathan Garcia to cut their deficit to 6-1. Belters starter Kevin Brahney walked three in the inning and gave up a double and a sacrifice fly by Garcia before giving way to Victor Beriguete with two outs, but Beriguete’s first pitch was wild and gave the Bolts another run to cut the Normal lead to 6-3.
The Belters tallied in the seventh with a McKenna double to the wall in left field, scoring Micowski from first after he drew a lead-off walk. Richard Lucas knocked home McKenna with a two-out single through the left side to increase the lead to 8-3. Micowski homered to right in the eighth inning for the final tally.
Beriguete (2-1) earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of relief while ThunderBolts starter Jake Fisher (1-3) took the loss.
The CornBelters continue the series with a Wednesday morning rematch at Standard Bank Stadium. Right-hander Brad Orosey (0-1, 9.64 ERA) starts on the mound for the Belters in the 10:35 a.m. contest against Bolts lefty Austin Wright (2-4, 4.98). Broadcast time on WJBC.com and is 10:20.
