CornBelters rallies fall short in season-ending loss

Posted on September 12, 2015

By: Normal Cornbelters Sports Information

NORMAL, Ill. – The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, ended their season with a 6-5 loss to the Traverse City Beach Bums on Saturday night in Game 2 of the best-of-three Frontier League Divisional Series at the Corn Crib.

The Beach Bums mounted a two-out rally in the opening frame to take an early 3-0 lead thanks to a two-run double to right center by Brandon Jacobs and an RBI single to left by Yazy Arbelo. The Bums added a run with two outs in the second inning when a liner to right center by Alex Tomasovich went to the wall and scored Jeff DeBlieux from first base for a 4-0 advantage.

The CornBelters loaded the bases in the second inning and scored a run on a fielder’s choice from Ozney Guillen to cut the deficit to 4-1. The Belters added a run in the third inning when Aaron Dudley doubled and scored on a base hit by Pat McKenna.

The Belters tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning as Mark Micowski and Santiago Chirino led off with singles followed by a base hit by Dudley to score Micowski and the third hit of the night by Sam Judah to plate Chirino.

Traverse City took a 5-4 lead in the sixth with the bases loaded on an RBI chopper up the middle by Sam Bumpers, but a grab of the hit and a strong throw to the plate by McKenna cut down a potential additional run.

The Beach Bums extended the advantage to 6-4 in the eighth inning amid controversy when a fly ball to center field by Brandon Jacobs was initially ruled a double but changed into a home run after a lengthy discussion by the umpires, followed by the ejection of Normal manager Brooks Carey.

The Belters began a ninth-inning rally with two outs on walks to Dudley and McKenna followed by an RBI single by Richard Lucas to cut the deficit to a run, but the game ended with the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Dom Vattuone earned the win with an inning of relief. Bret Dalhson registered the last out despite surrendering the final run for the save. Mike Schweiss took the loss with five and one-third innings, giving up five runs (earned) on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

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