By Greg Halbleib
NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters were able to wrest second place in the Western division of the Frontier League from the River City Rascals as Normal tacked two wins onto their record in a doubleheader Tuesday by scores of 6-3 and 6-5 at the Corn Crib.
The Belters struck first in Game 1 in the first inning when third baseman Richard Lucas hit a two-out ground rule double to center field to bring home shortstop Pat McKenna.
In the second inning the Rascals got on the board when outfielder Zach Kometani hit a fielder’s choice grounder to bring in first baseman Danny Canela, tying the game at 1-1.
The Lucas-McKenna connection struck again in the third inning when Lucas hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in McKenna from third.
In the fourth inning, Rascals starter Dane Stone left the mound with an injury. Stone had eight hits, one walk and one strikeout in three and two-thirds innings.
The Rascals again tied the game at 2-2 off of a Brian Hansen single to center field bringing in shortstop Johnny Morales.
In the fifth inning, outfielder Cameron Monger blasted a two-out grand slam to the left field berm to give the Belters the lead, 6-2.
In the sixth inning, CornBelters starter Kevin Johnson’s (4-1) tenure on the mound came to an end. Johnson threw a two-hitter through five and one-third innings with five walks and two strikeouts.
Newly signed reliever Cole Brocker took to the mound after Johnson. In the seventh inning Brocker threw a wild pitch to bring in Morales making the score 6-3 with only one out. The run would not come back to haunt the Belters as Brocker retired the remaining two batters. Chandler Jagodzinski (0-3) took the loss.
In Game 2, the Rascals got out to an early lead off of a two-out solo homer to left field from Josh Ludy. The Belters would match the Rascals when McKenna took a deep solo shot to center field. Lucas added to the lead in the first inning with a two-run homer on the right field berm.
The Rascals closed the gap in the fourth inning when Taylor Ard and Hector Crespo hit one-out back-to-back solo shots to even the score up at 3-3.
Victor Beriguete relieved Belters starter Brad Orosey (0-1) in the fifth inning. Orosey had five hits, three of which were home runs.
Ludy hit a sacrifice fly out to left field and brought in Jackson Slaid which gave the Rascals the lead in the fifth inning, 4-3.
The Belters tied the score when first baseman Aaron Dudley hit a one-out double to center field, bringing Santiago Chirino around to score for a 4-4 tie.
The double ended Rascals starter Lucas Laster’s night. Laster allowed five hits, two home runs and two walks while striking out seven.
The Rascals seventh inning was extended by a catcher’s interference to Brian Hansen, who went to second base on a passed ball. Designated hitter Danny Canela hit a two-out liner to center field to bring home Hansen and give the Rascals the lead, 5-4.
The Belters came through in the bottom of the seventh as Monger drew a one-out walk and went to third on a single by Jim Vahalik. Mark Micowski hit a double to the left center field gap to bring both runners home for the walk-off win. The double also extended Micowski’s hitting streak to 17 games.
The CornBelters (23-17) jump over the Rascals (22-17) for second place in the division and continue the series in game three on Wednesday night at 6:35.
