Boomers end Rascals’ streak at 5

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The Rascals were three innings away from finishing their weeklong road trip with a perfect 6-0 record. However, the Boomers (8-13) finally broke through against the River City bullpen to take the series finale 4-2  on Sunday afternoon and snap the Rascals’ (12-8) five-game winning streak.

It was feast or famine for the River City offense. Clint Freeman tied the game at 1-1 with his second home run of the season. Despite hitting less than .200 coming into the game, Freeman was the Rascals best hitter, going 3-for-4 on the day. The Frontier League’s best hitter on the season, Josh Silver, gave River City the lead in the sixth inning with a solo shot of his own. Silver is 60 points clear of second place in batting average (.455), tied for second in the league in home runs (5), and tied for fifth in RBIs (18).

Joe Scanio’s fifth start of the season was bookended by runs. Schaumburg jumped out to a lead in the bottom of the first with  Jordan Dean reaching base on a fielder’s choice and eventually scoring on a ball hit to shortstop Johnny Morales. For the next five innings, Scanio held the Boomers off the board while stranding three runners at second. In the seventh, Dean reached on a single, and he once again was driven in by Dusty Robinson, although this one was a clean double. The double chased Scanio after he finished 6.2 innings for the second consecutive start.

Michael Gunn came in and induced the groundball from Paul Kronenfeld to end the seventh tied 2-2. It was the second time in the series Gunn won the battle of the lefties after being called upon by Manager Steve Brook to get one out.

Unfortunately for Brook and the Rascals, the next reliever who took over was not as effective. Nick Kennedy fell to 1-2 on the season by giving up two runs off four hits in the eighth.  Mikal Hill smacked a two-out triple to score Ino Patron from second for the game-winning run. Josh Gardiner singled after falling behind 0-2 to score Hill and give Boomers starter Seth Webster a little breathing room as he went out for the ninth looking to finish off his complete game.

River City did not make it easy for him. The Rascals got two speedy runners in scoring position, but Webster got Dominique Taylor to bounce out to second to end the game.

The Rascals come back to O’Fallon for seven games at CarShield Field this week. The homestand gets started on Tuesday with a three-game series against the Florence Freedom.

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