Thunderbolts Take Two of Three from Sliders

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY31, 2009

CONTACT: CHAD COOPER

ThunderBolts take two of three from Sliders

The Windy City ThunderBolts scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to defeat the Midwest Sliders 4-2.

Unlike the first two games of the series which saw the two teams combine for 34 runs and 58 hits, Sunday’s contest turned into a pitchers duel. The ThunderBolts got a first inning run for the third straight game as Gilberto Mejia led off with an infield single, moved up to third on a throwing error and in to score on a Mike Sullivan groundout for a 1-0 Windy City advantage. A Roberto Mena RBI single in the second tied the game for Midwest at 1-1.

The game would remain that way until the bottom of the sixth as on the first two pitches of the inning Jeremy Jones doubled and Jimmy Baker singled to score a run and make it 2-1 Midwest.

WindyCity started their comeback in the eighth inning as Doug Coe led off with a pinch-walk. Two batters later, Guillermo Martinez singled, moving Coe to second. Mike Sullivan came up and ripped a ground rule double to center, scoring Coe and putting Martinez on third, tying the game at 2-2. A pitching change couldn’t keep WindyCity down as J. T. Restko singled off Jonathan Haldis, scoring both Martinez and Sullivan, giving the Bolts a 4-2 lead.

The ThunderBolts got in a jam in the eighth with two one and one out, but Matt Jernstad and Dylan Axelrod came into situational spots, striking out each of the batters they faced to get out of the inning.

Axelrod got into a little trouble in the ninth, putting two on with one out, but was able to get Sam Deluca to fly out to left to end the game. Nick Hall (1-0) picked up the win for the ThunderBolts going a perfect 1.2 innings. Chris Nyman took the loss for the Sliders.

The ThunderBolts now have n off day before heading to Lake Erie for a trio of games against the Crushers on Tuesday. All three games in the Lake Erie series will start at 6:05 p.m. CDT. Wednesday’s day’s game in the Crushers series will be aired on 88.3 FM, WXAVwhile Tuesday and Thursday will be available on sportsjuice.com. For information or tickets, call 708-489-BALLstop by the Standard Bank Stadium ticket office or go to the team’s website at You can also download the ThunderBolts daily podcast by going to the team’s website and clicking on Multimedia/mp3 in the Fan Zone drop down.

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STANDARD BANK STADIUM – HOME OF THE WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS

14011 S. Kenton Ave – Crestwood, IL60445 – 708/489-BALL