By WJBC Staff
FLORENCE, Ky. – The Normal CornBelters broke a four-game skid in another offensive-minded game with a 13-8 win over the Florence Freedom on Sunday night at UC Health Stadium.
The Freedom scratched a two-out rally in the first inning as Taylor Oldham was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a double to right field that was lost in the sun, followed by an RBI single by Collins Cuthrell for a 2-0 lead.
The CornBelters tied the contest with their own two-out rally in the second frame on RBI singles from Mitch Elliott and Mike Fish. Dillon Haupt gave Normal a 4-2 lead in the next frame on a two-run homer to the Freedom bullpen in right field.
Florence scored three times in the third inning to take a 5-4 lead, again all with two outs. Godbold doubled and Cuthrell walked, and the runs scored on a single from Wenrich, a wild pitch and a failed pickoff when the CornBelters were ruled to have missed the tag on the ensuing rundown allowing Wenrich to score from third base.
The Belters batted 11 men and scored seven in the fifth inning. Normal pulled back in front 6-5 as Aaron Dudley and Nolan Meadows led off the with back-to-back home runs to nearly the identical spot in right center field. After Haupt and Dylan Kelly singled, R.J. Perucki homered to the same spot as the previous long ball to extend the Belters advantage to 9-5. Dudley doubled off the center field wall in his second at-bat of the fifth inning to score two more runs and open up an 11-5 lead.
The Freedom recovered two of the runs right away in their fifth inning with a lead-off walk and a two-run homer to right by Godbold to cut the Normal lead to 11-7. The hosts added a run in the sixth on a fielder’s choice by Taylor Oldham to slice the deficit to 11-8.
The CornBelters extended their lead to 12-8 with a two-out single up the middle to score Chirino in the seventh inning. A Dudley fielder’s choice ground out for his fourth RBI of the night added an insurance run in the ninth inning.
Max Homick (4-3) earned the win, working five innings with seven earned runs, seven hits, four walks and three strikeouts. Cody Gray (1-1) took the loss with four-plus innings, surrendering nine earned runs on 12 hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
The CornBelters return home for another brief three-game homestand as the Traverse City Beach Bums visit the Corn Crib on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 6:35 each evening. Broadcast time each night on WJBC.com is 6:20.
