CornBelters lose early lead in loss at Rockford

Posted on August 1, 2015

By WJBC Staff

ROCKFORD – The Normal CornBelters surrendered two big middle innings to lose a lead and fall 6-5 to the Rockford Aviators on Friday night at Aviators Stadium.

The CornBelters struck first in the third inning when Jim Vahalik singled, went to third on an errant pick-off throw from home and scored on a base hit by Mark Micowski.

The Belters added a pair of runs in the fifth frame on a two-run bases-loaded single with two outs from Sam Judah to increase the lead to 3-0.

The Aviators broke through in the fifth inning with a one-out double from Michael Hur and an RBI single by Devon Rodriguez, then added a tally on a bases-loaded wild pitch and a two-run triple by Cody Lenahan to surge in front 4-3.

Rockford added a run in the sixth with an RBI triple to the right field wall by Brian Bistagne and a single by Rodriguez, all with two outs, to extend their lead to 6-3.

The CornBelters cut the margin to 6-4 in the seventh when Micowski led off with a double and was driven home by a base hit from Santiago Chirino. The Belters sliced the deficit to 6-5 in the eighth inning when Ozney Guillen led off with an infield single, went to second on a walk and third on a sacrifice, then scored on a wild pitch.

The Belters placed a runner on base with a two-out walk in the ninth, but Hur made a diving catch of a Pat McKenna shallow fly ball in center field to end the game.

Kyle Bruggemann (6-3) earned the win with six innings of work, walking four and striking out five on seven hits with four runs. Robert Baroniel (1-2) took the loss, working five innings with six hits, four runs (earned) with four walks and two strikeouts. Patrick Dolan worked the ninth inning for his third save.

The Belters remain in second place in the Frontier League West Division, falling two and a half games behind the Aviators.

The series continues at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Aviators Stadium as the CornBelters start Kevin Johnson (4-3, 3.66 ERA) on the mound against Rockford’s Kyle Hassna (7-2, 2.44) in a match-up of right-handers. Broadcast time on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com is 6:50 with listen live links found on Facebook, Twitter (@normal_baseball) and www.normalbaseball.com.

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