CornBelters clinch series with 3rd straight win

Posted on July 24, 2016

*Series concludes Sunday in suburban Cleveland (WJBC File Photo)*

By Greg Halbieb

AVON, Oh. – The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, took the lead in the fourth inning and held on for a 5-4 win over the Lake Erie Crushers for their third straight victory on Saturday night at All Pro Freight Stadium.

The Crushers loaded the bases in the second inning and opened the scoring with a two-run single by Parker Norris.

The CornBelters countered in the third inning with a two-out RBI double by Aaron Dudley, driving in Justin Fletcher to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Belters grabbed the lead in the fourth on a two-run double to left by Craig Lepre, then increased the advantage to 4-2 in the fifth inning on an RBI single to right by Dylan Kelly.

Lake Erie cut the margin to 4-3 in the seventh inning with a lead-off double by Justin Byrd, who was sacrificed to third and scored on a hard comebacker that glanced off Normal pitcher Chris Carmain’s glove for an infield single by Norris for his third RBI of the game.

The Belters bought insurance in the ninth when pinch hitter Ty Morris capitalized on his first at bat in just over a month with an RBI single, plating Fletcher.

Norris drove in his fourth run in the bottom of the ninth inning, plating a lead-off walk with a single to right, but the Crushers mustered nothing further.

Carmain (3-6) earned the win, throwing seven innings and giving up three runs (earned) on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Mike Devine (7-3) sustained the loss with six innings on the mound, giving up four runs (earned) on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Race Parmenter pitched the ninth inning for his sixth save.

The series concludes with a 4:05 p.m. Central contest in suburban Cleveland as the CornBelters send right-hander Horatio Acosta (5-2, 3.29 ERA) to the mound while the Crushers are scheduled to counter with right-hander Juan Caballero (0-0, 3.90). The game can be heard live on WJBC.com with pre-game beginning at 3:50.

Stay social with the CornBelters at http://twitter.com/normal_baseball, http://www.facebook.com/CornBelters and http://www.youtube.com/normalcornbelters.

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