By WJBC Staff
SAUGET – The Normal CornBelters battled back after falling behind in the first two innings but lost 5-4 to the Gateway Grizzlies on Tuesday night at GCS Ballpark.
The Grizzlies scored a run in the first inning with a double and three walks issued by Belters starter Ben Eckels to take the early lead. Gateway added three more runs on RBI singles from Cody Livesay and Logan Davis plus a sacrifice fly by Craig Massoni to end the night for Eckels with the Belters trailing 4-0.
The CornBelters dented the scoreboard in the fourth inning thanks to a lead-off double by Aaron Dudley, a single by Dillon Haupt sending Dudley to third and an RBI infield single by R.J. Perucki to plate Dudley. Haupt scored on a single up the middle by Alex Schmidt to cut the Grizzlies lead in half at 4-2, then a Victor Barron double just inside the first base bag scored Perucki and Schmidt to tie the contest at 4-4.
The Grizzlies broke the tie in the sixth inning when Sam Fischer led off with a double and scored on a double by Logan Davis.
The Belters rallied in the ninth with a lead-off single by Mike Fish followed by a sacrifice bunt, but after the Grizzlies intentionally walked Aaron Dudley they turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.
Vince Molesky (1-0) worked seven innings for the win, giving up four runs (earned) on 11 hits but striking out eight without a walk. Matthew Chavarria (0-1) took a hard-fought loss with six relief innings, giving up just one run on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. JaVaun West pitched the ninth inning for his third save.
The series continues on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. as righthander Chris Carmain (0-1, 6.35 ERA) starts on the mound for the CornBelters against Grizzlies lefty Corey Kimes (0-0, 9.00). The broadcast on WJBC.com begins at 6:50.
