CornBelters rally to beat Wild Things in 11 innings

Posted on July 20, 2015

By WJBC Staff

NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters came from behind to tie the game in the ninth inning before winning in 11 innings by a 5-4 score over the Washington Wild Things on Sunday afternoon at CONSOL Energy Park.

The win coupled with a Rockford Aviators loss places the Belters on top of the Frontier League West Division.

The CornBelters scored in the opening frame when Cameron Monger and Santiago Chirino led off the game with walks followed by an Aaron Dudley single to drive in Monger with one out. After Richard Lucas walked to reload the bases, Sam Judah bounced an infield single to the right side to plate Chirino for an early 2-0 lead.

The Wild Things answered in the third inning with two singles and an error to cut their deficit to 2-1, followed by an RBI ground-out and a two-run homer by C.J. Beatty to take a 4-2 lead.

The Belters cut the deficit to 4-3 with a two-out single by Jim Vahalik, scoring Kyle McHugh after a double for his first professional hit. Normal tied the game in the ninth when pinch hitter Jason Merjano led off with a double, went to third on a fly out and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep center by Aaron Wright to send the game to extra innings.

The CornBelters surged in front in the 11th inning with the international tiebreaker placing Dudley at second, who immediately scored with a double to the right center wall by Richard Lucas.

Race Parmenter (1-1) pitched the final three innings for the win. Tim Giel (2-5) suffered the loss.

The Belters are now 3-2 in extra-inning games

The CornBelters take Monday off before starting a six-game home stand on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. against the Joliet Slammers. Broadcast time on WJBC.com is 6:20.

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