Bolts 10 Belters 4
NORMAL, IL – The ThunderBolts erased an early deficit on their way to a 14-hit performance in a 10-4 win over the Normal CornBelters at The Corn Crib Sunday night.
The win gave the Thunderbolts 48 for the year, guaranteeing their seventh straight non-losing season.
The ThunderBolts went down early when the CornBelters hit a pair of home runs. Santiago Chirino had a two-run homer and Pat McKenna added a solo shot on their way to a 3-1 lead.
The Bolts’ first run came in the top of the third when Kyle Robinson, appearing in his first game since August 22, doubled and Doug Joyce singled him in.
The ThunderBolts took their first lead in the top of the fifth when they scored four runs on five straight hits. Andrew Brauer and Robinson hit back-to-back singles in front of Joyce, who hit a three-run homer to give the Bolts a 4-3 lead. Later in the inning, Miles Walding, who had singled, scored on a Mike Torres groundout.
Normal got one run back on an Oscar Garcia double in the bottom of the inning, but it was all ThunderBolts after that.
Chad Cregar’s homer in the sixth made it 6-4 and a single for Brauer and RBI double for Robinson made it 7-4.
The Bolts tacked on a run in the eighth on a Robinson RBI single and two in the ninth with RBIs from Cregar and Zach Aakhus.
Markus Solbach (5-1) pitched five innings of four-run ball on his way to a win while Colin O’Connell shut the door with four shutout frames out of the bullpen for his first career save. Michael Schweiss (5-4) went five innings, allowing five runs for the loss.
After taking Monday off, the ThunderBolts will travel to Florence to begin their final series of the year with the playoff-contending Florence Freedom. The first game on Tuesday night at UCMC Stadium will pit Windy City’s Matt Wickswat (6-11, 4.77) against Florence’s Chuck Weaver (4-1, 3.30). First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 and the broadcast can be heard on WXAV 88.3 FM and wxav.com.
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