By WJBC Staff
NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters dropped a heartbreaker at the Corn Crib on Friday night against the Frontier Greys in a 6-5 loss.
It was not until the fifth inning that a run came across home plate. Greys third baseman Zach Tanner took advantage of a double play to score the first run of the game, giving the Greys a 1-0 lead.
In the sixth inning, Greys second baseman Brandon Tierney hit a two-run deep ball just over the wall in left field adding to the Greys’ lead at 3-0. The Belters struck back when shortstop Pat McKenna hit an RBI double to bring in Mark Micowski. Aaron Dudley hit a sacrifice fly as well to bring in Santiago Chirino cutting the Greys’ lead to 3-2.
After six innings, Belters starter Robert Baroniel (0-1) came off the mound. Baroniel had seven hits including one home run while striking out six.
In the seventh inning, Greys outfielder Shane Brown added to the Frontier lead when he hit a one-out RBI single. Catcher Mike Falsetti reached home on a fielder’s choice. The Greys added a third run in the inning off of an RBI double from Scott Carcaise to give the Greys a 6-2 lead.
Greys starter Brett Shanklin (3-1) ended his night in the seventh inning. Shanklin allowed seven hits, one walk and struck out three.
The Belters struck back in the seventh inning when catcher Jim Vahalik hit a one-out RBI double to bring the Belters closer. Micowski took the opportunity and hit a two-out home run to bring in Vahalik making the score 6-5.
Nick Anderson recorded the final four outs to shut down the Belters and record his ninth save.
The CornBelters (28-21, 2nd Frontier League West) face the Greys (22-24, 4th East) in Game 2 on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at the Corn Crib in a pitching match-up of right-handers, Kevin Johnson (4-2, 3.53 ERA) for the Belters and Andrew Wellwerts (2-1, 4.50) for the Greys. Broadcast time on WJBC.com is 6:20.
Before the game, the Frontier League announced Belters shortstop Pat McKenna would be one of the four West Division participants in Tuesday’s Home Run Derby during All-Star activities in Schaumburg. McKenna has hit 12 homers, third most in the league.
