Bolts 17 Freedom 1
CRESTWOOD, IL – The ThunderBolts scored 11 runs in the fourth inning and a season-high 17 in the game as they won their season finale 17-1 over the Florence Freedom at Ozinga Field Saturday night.
The game was effectively out of reach after just four batters in the bottom of the first inning. Following two walks and a hit batter, Tyler Alamo hit a grand slam to put the ThunderBolts (42-54) ahead 4-0.
They added two more runs in the second inning as Tanner Gardner hit an RBI triple and scored on a Nate Montgomery single to make the score 6-0.
Joel Toribio was sharp on the mound for the Bolts. Making his first start of the year, he held Florence (scoreless for five innings, keeping the ThunderBolts ahead into the fourth, when they put it away.
Entering the game, the Bolts’ season-high in runs was 11. They matched that in one inning Saturday, sending 17 men to the plate. Taisei Fukuhara, Nate Montgomery and Tyler Straub had RBI singles, but the big hit came from Christian Funk, who came up with the bases loaded and brought three men home on a double. All nine batters reached base at least once in the inning and by the end of it, the lead was 17-0.
The Freedom scraped across a run on a Connor Crane sacrifice fly in the sixth and neither team scored over the final three innings.
Toribio (4-2) earned the win and knuckleballer Chris Amend (0-1) walked seven and allowed 14 runs over 3.1 innings to take the loss.
The ThunderBolts end the season with the win, finishing the year with a 42-54 record. The Bolts will return to Frontier League action in May of 2020. All information regarding the team during the offseason, including the release of the 2020 schedule can be found at wcthunderbolts.com.
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