CornBelters score in 9th to earn 5th straight win

Posted on August 3, 2016

By WJBC Staff

JOLIET – The Normal CornBelters broke a tie in the ninth inning to win their fifth straight game and stop a seven-game Joliet Slammers winning streak, 6-5 on Tuesday night at Silver Cross Field.

The CornBelters struck quickly in the first inning when Ty Morris led off with a walk, stole second and scored on a Santiago Chirino double on the right field line. Chirino went to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a drive by Nolan Meadows off the foot of pitcher Liam O’Sullivan and through a drawn-in infield for a 2-0 lead.

The Slammers countered in their first time at the plate with a lead-off single by Charlie White, who took third on a double to right by Alfredo Rodriguez and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Jake Gronsky. Rodriguez scored from third on a two-out throwing error to end the first inning in a 2-2 tie.

Joliet took a 3-2 lead in the third inning with a lead-off double from White and a bad hop RBI single by Gronsky, then pushed the advantage to 4-2 on home run to center field by Zarley Zalewski to lead off the fourth.

The Belters regained the lead at 5-4 with three runs in the fifth inning beginning with a double by Elvin Rodriguez to start the frame followed by a two-out RBI double by Aaron Dudley and a two-run homer to right by Meadows.

The Slammers evened the score at 5-5 in the seventh starting with a lead-off double by Casey Fletcher, who was sacrificed to third and scored on a line single by Charlie White over a drawn-in infield.
The CornBelters took the lead in the top of the ninth when Justin Fletcher scored from second base with two outs on a slow roller to shortstop that was mishandled.

Casey Brown (1-0) earned the win in relief while Brent Choban (4-7) suffered the loss. Brennan Smith pitched the final frame for his second save.

The series continues with a Wednesday matinee in downtown Joliet with an 11 a.m. first pitch. Right-hander Charlie Gillies (3-1, 2.43 ERA) starts on the mound for the Belters against Slammers lefty Spencer Medick (6-2, 4.94). The game can be heard on WJBC.com with pre-game beginning at 10:50.

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