by Greg Halbleib
NORMAL, Ill. – The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, gave up a six-run lead in the sixth inning and lost 10-8 to the Southern Illinois Miners on Saturday night at the Corn Crib.
The Miners broke the ice with consecutive two-out doubles by Steve Marino and Brian Portelli in the fourth inning for a 1-0 lead.
Aaron Dudley gave the CornBelters a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning with a line drive missile home run onto the right field lawn.
The Belters put up another big inning in the next frame as Alex Schmidt increased the lead to 5-1 with a two-run drive to nearly the same place, followed by an RBI double by Dillon Haupt and a sacrifice fly by Nolan Meadows to complete the four-run inning and a 7-1 advantage.
The Miners countered with seven runs and 10 straight baserunners in the sixth inning, all after two outs. The onslaught began with a two-run single by Toby DeMello and RBI base hits by Craig Massey, Francisco Rosario and Nolan Earley to shrink the Belters lead to 7-6 and end the night for Belters starter Max Homick, followed by RBIs from a walk to Brendan O’Brien and a single by Marino off reliever Francisco Carillo to complete the 13-batter inning and give the Miners an 8-7 lead.
Southern Illinois extended the lead to 9-7 in the seventh inning with Earley’s second RBI single of the night.
The Belters sliced the deficit in half at 9-8 in their seventh when Dudley led off with a double, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a ground out by Meadows.
The Miners bought insurance in the ninth inning by loading the bases and scoring on a fielder’s choice by Alex De Leon with one out when the Belters failed to turn a double play that would have ended the inning. The Belters put the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning but failed to score.
Andrew Potter (1-0) earned the win in relief. Homick (1-1) took the loss with 5 2/3 innings of work, giving up eight runs (earned) on nine hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Zach Cooper pitched out of trouble in the ninth inning for his second save.
The home stand concludes on Sunday with a 4:35 p.m. first pitch as right-hander Jake Negrete (0-1, 9.00 ERA) starts on the mound for the Belters. Sunday is Heartland Bank and Trust Family Fun Day with the Family 4-Pack of four box seats, four hot dogs and four drinks for only $40, plus fans are invited on the field after the game to meet the team.
Stay social with the CornBelters at http://twitter.com/normal_baseball, http://www.facebook.com/CornBelters and http://www.youtube.com/normalcornbelters.
