CornBelters strike early for 8th straight win

Posted on August 6, 2016

By WJBC Staff

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – The Normal CornBelters scored twice in each of the first two innings on the way to their eighth straight win, 5-1 over the Traverse City Beach Bums on Friday night at Wuerfel Park.

Nolan Meadows put the CornBelters on the board with his Frontier League-leading 22nd home run, a long two-run drive to right field in the first inning.

The Belters increased the lead to 4-0 in the second frame as Justin Fletcher was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Dylan Kelly’s double just inside the right field line, with Kelly scoring on a seeing-eye single by Santiago Chirino.

The Beach Bums tallied in the fourth with a lead-off double by Will Kengor, who scored after two ground-outs to cut the deficit to 4-1.

The CornBelters built the lead to 5-1 in the seventh when Ty Morris led off with a single, stole second, was sacrificed to third and took home after the throw to retire Aaron Dudley on a ground out to a drawn-in infield.

Chris Carmain (5-6) took the win with six and two-thirds innings on the hill, giving up one earned run on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Austin Bembnowski (2-1) took the loss in two innings of work, giving up four earned runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

The series continues Saturday at 6:05 p.m. Central at Wuerfel Park as the Belters send right-hander Horatio Acosta (6-2, 3.27 ERA) to the mound while the Beach Bums are expected to counter with righty Tucker Simpson (2-1, 2.81). The broadcast on WJBC.com begins at 5:50.

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