CornBelters rebound decisively to take series finale from Slammers

Posted on July 24, 2015
Mark Micowksi drove in four runs in Normal's 10-3 win over Joliet on Thursday. (Photo by Brian Hymer)
Mark Micowksi drove in four runs in Normal’s 10-3 win over Joliet on Thursday. (Photo by Brian Hymer)

By Greg Halbleib

NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters hit a grand total of 17 hits Thursday night at the Corn Crib en route to a 10-3 victory over the Joliet Slammers.

The Slammers took an early lead against the Belters in the first inning when both Nate Roberts and Alfredo Rodriguez hit back-to-back doubles to give the team a 2-0 lead as Roberts brought in Phil Bates with his double.

The Belters struck back in their half of the inning when Mark Micowski hit a leadoff home run to center field. Richard Lucas hit a two-out RBI double to bring in Santiago Chirino, tying the game at 2-2.

In the second inning the Belters took the lead when Ozney Guillen came home on a fielder’s choice RBI for Micowski making the score 3-2.

Micowski hit a double in the fourth inning to bring home Cameron Monger. Chirino also hit an RBI single to bring Jim Vahalik across home plate to increase the Belters lead to 5-2.

Slammers starter Kevin Walter (1-6) came off the mound in the fourth inning. Walter pitched three and two-thirds innings while allowing ten hits, one home run, one walk and five earned runs while striking out two.

Belters starter Mike Schweiss finished his night in the fifth inning. Schweiss pitched three innings with eight hits, three walks, six strikeouts and two earned runs.

In the fifth inning Vahalik hit an RBI single to bring in Sam Judah. Micowski also hit a single to shallow center for his fourth RBI of the night to bring in Guillen. Monger came home on a balk off of Slammers reliever David Kubiak, increasing the Belters’ lead to 8-2.

The Slammers jump started their offense back to life in the sixth inning when Rodriguez hit an RBI double to bring in Roberts, lessening the Belters lead to 8-3.

In the eighth inning Richard Lucas blasted a two-run homer onto the left-field berm to bring home Aaron Dudley and increase the lead to 10-3.

The CornBelters (33-24) return to sole possession of first place in the Frontier League West Division by a half-game over Rockford. The Belters face off with the Gateway Grizzlies (20-36) on Friday at 6:35 p.m. in game one of a three game series. Broadcast time on WJBC.com is 6:20

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