CornBelters complete four-game sweep of River City

Posted on July 3, 2015

By Greg Halbleib

NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters completed a four-game sweep of the River City Rascals with a 7-3 victory on Thursday night at the Corn Crib.

The Belters ignited the offense beginning with the second pitch they saw as Mark Micowski homered to the right center field berm, followed by an RBI single by Aaron Dudley and a sacrifice fly by Richard Lucas to take a 3-0 lead after one inning.

The Rascals drew a lead-off walk in the third inning and scored it on a two-out single from Danny Canela, but the Belters answered in the bottom half as Sam Judah traded places with Dudley on a double that hopped over the right center field fence for a 4-1 lead. Jim Vahalik homered over the right center fence in the fourth inning to build the advantage to 5-1.

Pat McKenna and Dudley hit consecutive doubles in the seventh followed by an RBI single to left by Richard Lucas to push the lead to 7-1. Zach Kometani hit a lead-off home run to left to lead off the Rascals ninth followed by a sacrifice fly by Josh Silver for the final tallies.

Mike Schweiss (3-5) worked eight innings and received the win, giving up one run (earned) and four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. Rascals starter Clint Wright (0-2) left the game with an apparent injury in the first inning but gave up the first three runs and took the loss.

The CornBelters travel to Southern Illinois for a brief three-game road trip against the Miners this weekend. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with a 6:50 broadcast time on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com with a listen link also found at www.normalbaseball.com. Lefty Kevin Brahney (4-2, 4.23 ERA) starts on the mound for the CornBelters against Miners left-hander Matt Bywater (6-2, 2.84). The CornBelters then begin a six-game home stand on Tuesday.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…