For the second straight day, it took extra innings to determine a winner between the Windy City ThunderBolts and the Oakland County Cruisers, but the Cruisers came out on top 4-1 in a14-inning marathon at Standard Bank Stadium Friday night.
Windy City’s starter, Brent Solich was brilliant, going eight innings and striking out nine. His only hiccup came in the sixth inning when he gave up a single to Bobby Andrews who reached second on an error and a Jeremy Jones single, which scored Andrews.
The ThunderBolts got their lone run in the seventh. Ryan Basham led off with a double and two batters later, Ryne White knocked him in with a double of his own. The game remained tied at one as the bullpens took over. Nolan Shaffer threw 6.1 great innings for Oakland County but his relievers were just as good with Adam Dominick hurling 2.1 scoreless.
The ThunderBolts’ best chance to take the game came in the tenth. They loaded up the bases with one out, but Joe Rodriguez, making his professional debut, struck out Kent Gerst and Guillermo Martinez to get out of the jam. Rodriguez went four shutout innings in all, earning the win.
The Bolts’ bullpen threw five shutout frames but in the 14th, could hold out no longer. With a man on first and two outs, Kyle Maunus belted his first home run of the year out to left and gave the Cruisers a 3-1 lead. They added one run for insurance, and P.J. Zocchi nailed down his 13th save, pitching a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourteenth. Joe Scumaci (0-3) took the loss in relief for Windy City.
The Bolts welcome the Washington Wild Things to town Saturday night with Ryan Quigley (2-1) taking the mound for Windy City. Washington will counter with Jeff Sonnenburg (0-4) Fireworks will be presented after the game, which starts at 6:05. Radio coverage begins at 6:45 on WXAV 88.3 fm.
