The Kalamazoo Kings pounded out 15 hits en route to a 14-6 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts.
The Kings got on the board in the first inning as Brendan Murphy lifted a wall-scraping homer, just past the reach of a leaping J. T. Restko for a 2-0 Kalamazoo lead. The Kings would get three more in the second inning on four hits, including a Simon Williams homer to push their advantage to 5-0. Two more runs came in during the third inning on a Jett Ruiz homer making it 7-0
Windy City would crack the scoreboard in the fourth as with one out J. T. Restko rode a Joe DiPietro offering over the 400’ sign in straightaway centerfield. The next batter, Robert Perry, was hit by a pitch. Bryan Cook made DiPietro pay for his transgression as he drilled his seventh homer of the year over the left-centerfield fence, cutting the Kings lead to 7-3.
The ThunderBolts would creep closer in the sixth as a single by Robert Perry and a walk to Bryan Cook put runners on first and second with one out. Zach Aakhus followed with a double to score Perry and move Cook to third. Wade Lamont came up and lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center, bringing home Cook and slicing the Kalamazoo lead to 7-5.
Any hopes of a comeback were dashed in the sixth inning as the Kings exploded for seven runs on just three hits, aided by six ThunderBolts walks, taking a 14-5 lead.
Joe DiPietro (4-4) was the beneficiary of the offensive onslaught, picking up the win giving up five runs on six hits in six innings. Tyler Kelsey (4-4) took the loss for Windy City. Tim Dennehy was a bright spot for Windy City, pitching three scoreless innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out three.
In the second game of the Kings series, Brandon garner (2-1, 5.50) gets the ball for the ThunderBolts in game one against Ben Rue (1-1, 7.98) for the Kings. The game is set for 6:05 p.m. with coverage on WXAV beginning at 5:45. 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.
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