Late Rally Falls Just Short As Miners Lose To Schaumburg

SCHAUMBURG, IL-   The Southern Illinois Miners mounted a late comeback attempt on Tuesday night against the Schaumburg Boomers at Boomers Stadium, scoring three late runs including two in the ninth to get within a single run and put the potential tying run on second base, but fell just short in a 10-9 Independence Day loss.

Miners catcher Ben Moore goes 3-5 at the plate last night in a 10-9 loss at Schaumburg (Miners photo)

The Miners jumped all over rookie starter Michael Wood (1-0) in the first inning, as after Brett Wiley and Craig Massoni worked two-out walks, four consecutive singles brought home four runs off the bats of Nolan Earley, Anthony Critelli, Kurt Wertz, Jr. and Ben Moore for a 4-0 Miners advantage.

But the Boomers came all the way back in the second and third innings. After two sacrifice flies and a bunt single plated three runs in the second to make the score 4-3, Seth Spivey hit a two-run home run down the right field line in the bottom of the third to give the Boomers a 5-4 lead against Zach Cooper. After neither team scored in the fourth, Schaumburg chased Cooper (2-5) and score four times in the fifth inning on RBI singles by David Harris and Ryan O’Malley and a two-run hit with two outs by Jack Parenty to make the score 9-4.

The Miners struck back for two runs in the top of the sixth off reliever Alex Luna when they loaded the bases with one out. Craig Massey then lined a single to right field and Ryan Lashley followed with a walk to force in a run and make it 9-6, but after a double play ended the threat, Schaumburg got another RBI hit by Harris in the bottom half of the frame to extend the lead to 10-6.

The Miners would fight back late in the contest. They plated one run in the eighth inning off Kyle Westwood on an RBI groundout by Massey to make the score 10-7 before mounting one last rally against Jake Joyce in the ninth. Wiley started it off with a leadoff walk, and two batters later, Earley singled him to third base. Critelli then plated a run with an RBI single to make it 10-8, and Wertz followed by reaching on a fielder’s choice to score Earley and make the score 10-9. With two outs now in the frame, Moore singled to put the tying run in scoring position, but Joyce rebounded with a strikeout to end the inning and the game.

The Miners amassed 14 hits in the contest, with Critelli, Wertz and Moore each getting three. Massey, Critelli and Wertz each drove home two runs as well, with four players scoring two runs each, but it was not enough as the Boomers escaped.

After an off day on Wednesday, the Miners will look to bounce back in the series finale on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. Ethan Gibbons will pitch for Southern Illinois with Preston Jamison starting for the Boomers.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

Box Score

Batting Stats

Batting
2B: K.Wertz Jr. (5).
RBI: C.Massey 2 (20), R.Lashley (36), N.Earley (19), A.Critelli 2 (3), K.Wertz Jr. 2 (14), B.Moore (9).
Team LOB: 9.

Fielding
A: C.Massey 3 (110), B.Wiley 3 (42), B.Moore (17), Z.Cooper (4).
DP: 1 (B. Wiley(2B) – C. Massey(SS) – A. Critelli(1B)).
E: C.Massoni (1), A.Critelli (2).
FCS: B.Moore (1).
PB: B.Moore (3).
PO: C.Massey (80), B.Wiley (28), C.Massoni (56), N.Earley 3 (77), A.Critelli 5 (34), K.Wertz Jr. (24), B.Moore 6 (254), R.Sluder 6 (21).
SBA: B.Moore (48).
TC: C.Massey 4 (193), B.Wiley 4 (77), C.Massoni 2 (60), N.Earley 3 (81), A.Critelli 6 (38), K.Wertz Jr. (26), B.Moore 7 (273), R.Sluder 6 (21), Z.Cooper (9).

Batting
HP: Z.Weigel (4).
HR: S.Spivey (10).
RBI: K.Ruchim (23), S.Spivey 2 (47), D.Harris 2 (38), R.OMalley (7), J.Keller (14), J.Parenty 2 (11).
SF: K.Ruchim (2), J.Keller (5).
CS: J.Parenty (1).
Team LOB: 6.

Fielding
A: S.Spivey 2 (63), J.Gardiner 4 (68), R.OMalley (16), J.Keller (17), J.Parenty 3 (70), M.Wood (1), G.Kelly (1).
DP: 1 (G. Kelly(P) – J. Keller(C) – S. Spivey(1B)).
PB: J.Keller 3 (5).
PO: K.Ruchim 3 (82), S.Godfrey 2 (93), S.Spivey 10 (208), R.OMalley (22), J.Keller 7 (240), J.Parenty (33), M.Wood (1), K.Westwood (1), A.Luna (1).
TC: K.Ruchim 3 (83), S.Godfrey 2 (97), S.Spivey 12 (275), J.Gardiner 4 (132), R.OMalley 2 (40), J.Keller 8 (257), J.Parenty 4 (108), M.Wood 2 (2), K.Westwood (1), G.Kelly (2), A.Luna (1).

Pitching Stats

S Illinois
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
39	Cooper, Z	4.1	8	9	8	4	2	5.33
1	Palacios, N	1.2	2	1	1	1	1	5.18
21	Dubsky, A	2.0	1	0	0	0	3	4.36
		8	11	10	9	5	6

Pitching
BF: Z.Cooper 25, N.Palacios 8, A.Dubsky 7.
P-S: Z.Cooper 95-57, N.Palacios 36-24, A.Dubsky 26-16.
WP: Z.Cooper 2 (2), N.Palacios (1).

Schaumburg
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
13	Wood, M	4.0	4	4	4	2	2	9.00
35	Luna, A	1.1	5	2	2	1	1	5.40
30	Kelly, G	1.2	0	0	0	1	1	0.48
47	Westwood, K	1.0	2	1	0	0	0	2.92
26	Joyce, J	1.0	3	2	2	1	2	4.19
		9	14	9	8	5	6

Schaumburg
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
13	Wood, M	4.0	4	4	4	2	2	9.00
35	Luna, A	1.1	5	2	2	1	1	5.40
30	Kelly, G	1.2	0	0	0	1	1	0.48
47	Westwood, K	1.0	2	1	0	0	0	2.92
26	Joyce, J	1.0	3	2	2	1	2	4.19
		9	14	9	8	5	6

Pitching
BF: M.Wood 18, A.Luna 10, G.Kelly 5, K.Westwood 5, J.Joyce 7.
P-S: M.Wood 69-44, A.Luna 34-20, G.Kelly 17-8, K.Westwood 14-8, J.Joyce 34-18.
WP: J.Joyce (1).

League Transactions

July 4, 2017

GATEWAY GRIZZLIES:  Signed OF Zac Michener.
WASHINGTON WILD THINGS:  Activated RHP Joe Ravert from the injured list.