Aviators fly-by CornBelters 9-2.
On Tuesday night, the Normal CornBelters fell 9-2 after mistakes propelled Lafayette to seven unanswered runs.
After being walked off last night in Burlington 8-7, the CornBelters (4-5) returned to The Corn Crib, looking to return to the win column against the Lafayette Aviators (5-1). Despite struggling offensively, the Aviators entered the matchup on a hot start to the year, helped by playing the Champion City Kings (0-6) who have struggled heavily with free passes, leading the league in walks with 58 total.
Scoring was opened by the Aviators in the top of the second on a deep double by Keifer Wilson from that score who reached on a single off Starting Pitcher Kasey Graham. The Cornbelters came right back an inning later with a run of their own coming from Shortstop Jackson Smith’s RBI single, scoring Charlie Graham in the bottom of the third.
CornBelters Starting Pitcher Graham held it down for four innings, earning a final statline of 4.0 IP, two strikeouts, with one earned run. The left-hander was replaced by Nick Krueger who surrendered a run to Aviator Hunter Snow’s triple.
However the stalk answered right back, with Center Fielder Jack Novak doubling to lead the inning off. He’d eventually score from third on a deep sac-fly from First Baseman Cal Royer. At this point however, things began to unravel for Normal.
Lafayette nearly struck in the top of the sixth, but eventually found offense in the seventh and eighth. In the top of the seventh, two walks eventually turned into two unearned runs for the Aviators, after a wild pitch got away from Pitcher Jake Fenton that Catcher Charlie Graham couldn’t initially find, leading to a costly mistake that would allow two runners to score. The next inning, a similar situation played out as Pitcher Wyatt Mammen walked the bases loaded, then cleared them with two wild pitches, letting the Aviators score three on zero hits.
The final nail in the coffin came during the ninth, as Sawyer Solitaria crushed a towering home run just barely fair for two runs.
The Aviators continued their walking ways to move past the Belters, totalling seven as a team, with five plated runs without any hits. They leave Normal at 6-1, looking to stay undefeated on the road and extend their win streak to six on Wednesday in Dansville.
The CornBelters fall to 3-5, with another few big innings spelling their doom once again. They look to face the River Dragons on Wednesday, aiming to prevent losing from becoming a habit and snap their three game skid in Alton.