Bums 7 Bolts 4
TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Despite a four-run ninth-inning rally, the ThunderBolts dropped their second straight game Friday night, losing the first of a three-game series to the Traverse City Beach Bums 7-4 at Wuerfel Park.
The team’s traded zeroes early, with neither team scoring a run before the fourth. Jake Fisher got off to a strong start for Windy City, retiring ten of the first 12 batters he faced.
With one out in the fourth inning, Yazy Arbelo connected on his first home run of the year to make it 1-0. The next three men reached to load the bases, and with two outs, Drew Rossi lined a triple to right field, clearing the bases and putting Traverse City up 4-0.
The Beach Bums had another big rally in the sixth. Jovan Rosa doubled and Sean Gusrang singled before Jake Rhoades’s base hit knocked them both in. Jeff DeBlieux scored the team’s seventh run with an RBI single later in the inning.
Mi9ke Devine pitched seven shutout innings for Traverse City, but Windy City’s offense found some life in the ninth. Kyle Robinson, Max White and Andrew Brauer each singled and Doug Joyce drove in Robinson on a groundout. Jon Mestas drew a walk to load the bases, but he was picked off for the second out. Later in that at bat, Evan Button hit a three-run homer to cut the deficit to 7-4.
That was all the Bolts would get, though, as Will Rankin came out of the bullpen to get the final out and earn the save. Devine (1-1) earned the win and Fisher (1-1) took the loss.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday night at Wuerfel Park. Markus Solbach (1-0, 1.29) will be on the mound for the Bolts against Casey Delgado (1-0, 5.40) of the Beach Bums. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CDT. The broadcast can be heard on WXAV 88.3 FM and wxav.com.
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