Brett Durand pitched eight strong innings as the Rockford RiverHawks topped the Windy City ThunderBolts in game two of a three game series 2-1.
After Rockford scored a run on an RBI single from Roberto Sabates in the first inning, Windy City responded in the second inning on a towering drive off the bat of J. T. Restko to tie the game at 1-1. The RiverHawks would come back with an unearned run in the second inning on a double by Caleb Fields who stole third and came in on a throwing error to make it 2-1.
After that the pitchers took over as the game remained 2-1 throughout. The Bolts had a few chances, most notably in the fifth when Nate Hall was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the frame. In the seventh, J. T. Restko drove a ball to deep centerfield, but at the wall, Mike Goetz was able to pull it in and preserve the one run Rockford advantage.
Brett Durand (3-0) got the win for the RiverHawks tossing eight strong innings allowing five hits and one run, walking one and striking out five. John Muller pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save. Shane Zegarac (1-2) took the hard luck loss for Windy City going 5.1 innings allowing four hits and two runs, one earned.
The finale of the Rockford series is on Thursday with Dustin Pease (2-1, 4.61) on the mound for the ThunderBolts against Rob Neigebauer (0-2, 4.42) for the RiverHawks. Windy City will complete their six game road trip with a weekend series at Southern Illinois. Thursday’s game will be aired on 88.3 FM, WXAV. You can also follow the ThunderBolts on Facebook and Twitter or for information or tickets, call 708-489-BALL stop by the Standard Bank Stadium ticket office or go to the team’s website at
www.wcthunderbolts.com.
