The Southern Illinois Miners scored at least one run in every inning from the fourth inning on, downing the Windy City ThunderBolts 13-5 on Return of the Cheetahs night at Standard Bank Stadium.
After Southern Illinois scored a pair of runs in the top of the second, Windy City came back with a pair of their own, keyed by back-to-back doubles from J. T. Reskto and Zach Aakhus. The Bolts put another two on the board in the fourth on a pair of RBI groundouts to go up 4-2.
The Miners scored a run in the top of the fourth on a Brad Miller homer to cut the lead to a single run. Southern Illinois took the lead for good in the fifth, as after the first two batters reached, Pedro Lopez tripled and was brought home on a sac fly for a 6-4 Miners advantage.
Windy City would counter with a run on a Zach Aakhus groundout in the fifth, but that was the last tally that the Bolts would see on their sheet in the game, while Southern Illinois dropped seven runs on the board in the final four innings for the final margin of victory.
Danny Zeffiro (2-1) got the win for Southern Illinois with Dustin Pease (5-2) taking the loss for Windy City.
The ThunderBolts wrap up their homestand on Thursday with a gem of a pitching matchup as Ross Stout (4-1, 2.35) on the mound for Windy City against Ryan Bird (6-0, 1.64) for the Miners in a matchup of pitchers who finished first and second in Frontier League Pitcher of the Year voting in 2008. It is a Bud Light Thirsty Thursday with all 12oz domestic draft beers just $1. 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.
