Bolts 4 Bums 3
CRESTWOOD, IL – The ThunderBolts finished the season Thursday night with a 4-3 win over the Traverse City Beach Bums at Standard Bank Stadium. The win gave the Bolts their second series sweep of the year and their first since May.
The Bolts took a first-inning lead for the third straight day when Andrew Brauer began the bottom of the first with a single. He would later score on a Max White sacrifice fly.
Pete Whittingslow started for Windy City and retired the first nine men he faced and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. That first hit, though, was a Sean Gusrang solo home run that tied the score at one.
The ThunderBolts quickly took the lead back. In the bottom of the fifth, they loaded the bases on a hit batter, a single and a walk, and with two outs, Davidson Peguero delivered a two-run single to make the score 3-1. They extended their lead the following inning when Mike McGuckin walked and Ryan Soares singled him in.
The Beach Bums made it 4-2 in the seventh when Gusrang walked and Kevin Taylor doubled him in. They cut the lead to one the following inning after Scott Woodward singled and advanced to third before a passed ball scored him. Traverse City proceeded to put runners at first and second before Jessie Snodgrass got Gusrang to ground out to end the inning.
Snodgrass pitched a scoreless frame to drop his ERA to 2.61, fourth in the league, after qualifying by throwing his 76th inning. Reese McGraw got the final two outs and earned his fifth save in the same number of opportunities.
Whittingslow (1-1) allowed three runs in 7.1 innings for his first career win and Ian MacDougall (6-4) allowed four runs in five innings for the loss.
The win wraps up the 2014 season for the ThunderBolts. They finished with a record of 35-60. During the offseason, all ThunderBolts information, including the release of the 2015 schedule, can be found at www.wcthunderbolts.com.
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