TRAVERSE CITY, MI – The Traverse City Beach Bums jumped on the board early with a two-run first and never looked back, defeating the ThunderBolts 6-2 in the rubber match of their weekend series at Wuerfel Park.
Windy City starter John Mincone did not make it out of the first inning after he walked two and gave up an RBI double to Chase Burch. There was also an error in the inning, and Mincone exited having allowed two runs and recording just one out. Tommy Gately was called on and got out of the inning without any further damage.
There was more trouble in the second, though, when Gately walked Matt Brown and Tom Zebroski singled. Burch knocked in Brown on a sacrifice fly, making it 3-0.
It became a four-run game in the third when Greg Burns walked and Jeff Flagg singled. Mike Scudero entered and retired the next three batters, but a John Parham sacrifice fly scored the run.
The Bolts offense got going in the fifth inning when Lee Rubin led off with a single. After a Ryan Basham fielder’s choice, Brandon Anderson doubled and Chase Porch knocked home Basham and Anderson on a single. It was Porch’s first RBI since June 18.
The lead had been cut in half and the ThunderBolts trailed by just two as they loaded the bases with two outs in the same inning, but Scott Dunn came out of the bullpen to get the final out and the Bolts did not threaten again.
The Beach Bums put the game on ice with single runs in the fifth and sixth. Parham picked up an RBI base hit for their fifth run and Jose Vargas’ double finished the scoring.
Dunn stayed on the mound for the last 4.1 innings. He allowed just two hits and no runs, earning the win (3-2). Mincone took the loss for Windy City (0-1).
Windy City returns home for a big three game series with the Joliet Slammers on Monday. The 10:05 a.m. start time will be the first of back-to-back Big Splash Days at Standard Bank Stadium. Bryant Cotton (4-3) will start for the Bolts against Joliet’s Jake Renshaw (5-3). The game can be heard on WXAV 88.3 fm and wxav.com.
