By: Ryan Paris
JOLIET, IL – If you walk around Slammers Stadium for enough time, you’ll probably hear someone mention that Joliet has never beaten the Windy City ThunderBolts in a season series.
To the average baseball fan, they probably don’t think twice about it. Maybe the Bolts just have the Slammers number. But when you look at the big picture, it’s almost impossible to believe.
Going into Thursday night’s game, the rivals had played a combined 152 games against each other in their histories. Windy City held just a six game advantage over Joliet all time. The Slammers had a better overall record than Windy City in three of the last four years.
On Thursday night, heading to Crestwood needing a win to clinch their first season series (this rivalry really needs a name), the Slammers (38-43) survived a late comeback bid to win 5-3 against the ThunderBolts.
With ace C.J. Blowers on the mound, there was an air of confidence that if the offense could produce, the pitching staff would hold down their end of the deal.
And the Slammers bats set the tone right away. Liam McArthur, Ian Battipaglia, and Bryant Flete all worked full counts on Bolts starter Eric Turner. Even though Joliet only had one runner reach, Turner’s pitch count was north of 30 by the end of the inning.
On the other side, Blowers pitched one of his best games of the season, starting with three perfect innings to open the game.
The Slammer offense broke through in the fourth with Turner’s pitch count rising and command falling. It started with Flete drawing his second walk of the game and an Ernny Ordonez single.
Turner was able to get two outs after that and it looked like he was going to escape the inning. Then, the Slammers fought back by drawing three consecutive walks to score two runs. That forced Turner out of the game. The scoring didn’t stop when the ThunderBolts turned to the bullpen. Liam McArthur lofted a single into no man’s land in left field to plate another pair of runs.
The Slammers took that 4-0 lead into the sixth, where Windy City got one back. The bleeding stopped there, and Joliet re-established the four run advantage off a Jose Contreras double in the eighth.
Cam Phelts led off the bottom of the inning for Windy City with a single and a stolen base. His speed had stung the Slammers all year, at times bordering on recklessness. When Michael Sandle hit a soft ground ball to Braylin Marine, Phelts was forced to stay at the bag, but as soon as Marine threw over to first, Phelts took off for third.
One of the cardinal sins of baseball is making the first or third out at third base. Especially so when your team is down four runs and needing to rally.
Ordonez saw Phelts take off and immediately threw back across the diamond to Ian Battipaglia, who nabbed him at third.
Although Windy City added two more runs in the inning, preventing Phelts from reaching saved things from potentially getting out of control.
With a two run lead, Greyson Linderman came on to shut down the last ThunderBolt gasp in the ninth, and make Joliet’s rivalry winning dreams a reality.
The Slammers return to Joliet on Tuesday, August 26th for a six game home stand to close out the season.
For information on season tickets, premium suites or group outings, please visit the Slammers’ official website at www.jolietslammers.com.
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The Joliet Slammers play in downtown Joliet, Illinois, and are members of the professional, independent Frontier League. The Frontier League is the largest MLB Partner League with 16 teams spanning from the Mississippi River to the East Coast. Visit the Slammers online atwww.jolietslammers.com or call the ticket office at 815-722-2287 for more information! Don’t forget to “Like” the Slammers on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/jolietslammers, follow them on Instagram at @jolietslammersofficial or follow them on Twitter at @jolietslammers!
