By: Braeden Jones
SCHAUMBURG, IL – After the Joliet Slammers (26-32) had given up an early lead to the Schaumburg Boomers (27-31) in Friday’s matchup, the Slammers never lost their lead on Saturday and beat the Boomers 6-3.
Just like in yesterday’s game, the Slammers started off the scoring in the top of the 1st inning. After Patrick Ward was walked, he promptly stole second base. That decision would pay off as he would be able to score when Jackson Valera hit a single. That started Joliet in the lead at 1-0.
The scoring would continue in the top of the 2nd inning for the Slammers. Tyler Cerny would hit a single and make it to third base off of a Spencer Rich single. Ian Battipaglia was able to reach first base off of a Boomers’ fielding error, which also scored Cerny. Rich would score shortly after when a wild pitch was thrown, which brought Joliet’s lead to 3-0.
The Slammers didn’t stop the scoring there. In the top of the 6th inning, Valera would hit a single and advance to second base from a Cam Suto single. Tyler Cerny then stepped up to the plate to hit a single, and Valera churned his legs to safely slide into home plate. That moved the score to 4-0, still in favor of the visiting team.
The bottom of the 6th is where the Boomers finally got some scoring of their own. The half-inning would start with a single from Kellum Clark and a double from Cole Smith. This set up two scoring plays for their teammates, with a sacrifice fly out from Anthony Calarco scoring Clark and a double from Kyle Fitzgerald scoring Smith. That cut the Slammers’ lead in half at 4-2.
The Slammers would take those two runs back in the top of the 8th inning. Suto would be walked to lead off the half-inning, and a stolen base plus a single from Cerny would push him to third base. Suto would end up scoring off a wild pitch and Cerny would shortly follow suit, extending Joliet’s lead to 6-2.
The Boomers would head to the bottom of the 9th inning needing four runs to tie up the game, and they started on the right track. Alec Craig would hit a double and Clark would be walked with no outs. A ground out and a sacrifice fly out from Calarco that scored Craig brought the half-inning to two outs, and a final fly out would close this game. The Slammers had gotten their first win at Wintrust Field this season with a 6-3 victory.
After evening the series, the Slammers will now set their sights on the series win against the Boomers in Sunday’s game. Schaumburg will aim to hold onto the series win for their home crowd on Sunday.
