By: Braeden Jones
SCHAUMBURG, IL – After the Joliet Slammers (25-31) came out swinging to start this game, the Schaumburg Boomers (27-30) scored six straight and would take the dominating 9-3 win on Friday.
The Slammers started this game off hot with a pair of homers in the top of the 1st inning. Ian Battipaglia led off this game with a solo shot to right field, and Blake Berry followed that line for a solo homer of his own. That started Joliet off with a 2-0 lead.
The Boomers quickly responded in the bottom of the 1st. After Alec Craig was walked to start the half-inning, Anthony Calarco would eventually score Craig off of a single. While that didn’t give Schaumburg the lead, that brought the score to 2-1.
The Boomers would tie the game shortly after their first score. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Alex Calarco hit a solo home run to even the score, bringing the total score to 2-2.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, Schaumburg made sure that the Slammers never saw a lead again. Anthony Calarco led off the half-inning with a solo homer to give the Boomers their first lead of the night. Two walks on Kyle Fitzgerald and Banks Tolley set up a 2-RBI single for Will Prater, and he would immediately come around to score thanks to a 2-run home run from Alex Calarco. That moved the score all the way to 7-2, very quickly favoring the Boomers.
The Slammers had a small burst of life to try to corral the lead in the top of the 5th inning. Patrick Ward hit what was the 6th total home run of the night to add one more tally to Joliet’s scoring. The lead still sat with Schaumburg at 7-3.
Many teams around the Frontier League have watched 4-run leads fall, so the Boomers added a few more to the score just to be safe. In the bottom of the 5th inning, Anthony Calarco got a single and moved to second base once Fitzgerald was walked. Tolley hit an RBI single that scored Anthony Calarco, and an RBI sacrifice fly from Alex Calarco brought Fitzgerald home. The Boomers had now tripled the score over the Slammers, holding a 9-3 lead after five innings.
A high-scoring first half of this game turned into a defensive second half from both teams, as no more runs would be scored for the rest of the game. That meant that the Boomers took their first victory over the Slammers this season with a score of 9-3.
Now down one game in this series, the Slammers will look to win the next two games and win the series against the Boomers on Saturday. Schaumburg has started this series off on the right foot with a win and will look to win the series in two games at Wintrust Field on Saturday against Joliet.
