The River City Rascals dropped their series finale with the Windy City ThunderBolts 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Ozinga Field. The Rascals committed three costly errors in the contest, with two runs scoring directly off of the miscues. The win gave the Bolts a 2-1 series victory.
Neither team scored through the first four innings, and the Bolts finally broke the seal in the fifth, scoring a pair of runs in the frame. A ground ball off the bat of Omar Obregon with two on and two outs got past Rascals shortstop Braxton Martinez, who was playing out of position, as the already short-handed Rascals had to move seven players to a new defensive position after JD Hearn left with an injury earlier in the game. Brett Coffel scored on the play, and with the inning kept alive, Brynn Martinez drove in the second run on an RBI infield single.
Nolan Meadows drove in the lone Rascals run on an RBI single up the middle in the sixth, but the Bolts got the run back in the seventh. With two outs and a man at second, Kameron Esthay dropped what would have been the third out in left field, allowing Justin Smith to score and making it 3-1 Windy City. They added to the lead with a pair of runs in the eighth, an RBI single from Smith and a bases-loaded walk to Tyler Straub.
Rascals starter Brendan Feldmann (3-1) took the hard-luck loss, allowing two unearned runs on four hits in five innings. He struck out six without allowing a walk. Bolts starter Kenny Mathews (2-6) earned the win, allowing one run on six hits in six innings with a walk and seven strikeouts. Blake Hickman, Connor Mayes and Colby Blueberg combined for three scoreless innings out of the Bolts bullpen.
The Rascals (28-25) are off until Wednesday, when they host the Schaumburg Boomers for a doubleheader starting at 5:05 p.m. CDT at CarShield Field.
