The ThunderBolts used five late runs to come back from a 3-1 deficit and defeat the Florence Freedom 7-3 on Friday night at Standard Bank Stadium.
Windy City scored first on Michael Torres’s RBI double in the second. Mike Mooney crossed the plate and JT Restko tried to score on the same play but was cut down at the plate.
Bolts starter Richard Barrett, following a leadoff double, had retired nine straight hitters heading into the fourth, but that was the one inning in which he struggled. The Freedom got an RBI single from Michael Wheeler before Brandon Cohen drove in two runs on a double, all coming with two outs.
That was all the offense for Florence, who held the lead into the sixth. That’s when the ThunderBolts, trailing by one, got a game-tying single from JT Restko. They chased Tim Holmes from the game with the bases loaded and one out, but Julian Arballo got the final two hitters of the inning to prevent further damage.
In the seventh, Brandon Anderson led off with a bloop double then scored on a bunt single from Gilberto Mejia and throwing error that sent Mejia to second. He scored on Ryan Basham’s RBI single. Windy City added some insurance in the eighth on two hits and an error. The biggest hit of the inning was Basham’s RBI double.
Ryan Quigley threw two shutout innings for the win (3-4) and Arballo gave up both seventh inning runs for the loss (4-5). Nick hall pitched the ninth in a non-save spot after the Bolts added the two late runs.
The Bolts and Freedom are back in action on Saturday night. Sean Toler (6-0) will get the start for the ThunderBolts against Florence’s Ryan Moore (0-3). The game starts at 7:05 on Elvis Night in Crestwood. Jerry Elvis Vegas will perform a pregame concert. There are also fireworks following the action on the field. The game will be broadcast on WXAV 88.3 fm and wxav.com.
