From the Southern Illinois Miners

MARION, IL – 

The Southern Illinois Miners trailed 5-0 in the fifth inning of Sunday’s series finale against the Windy City ThunderBolts at Rent One Park before mounting a big comeback, scoring three in the fifth and three more in the sixth before the bullpen shut the visitors down in a 6-5 win.

The game was scoreless through the first three innings before Larry Balkwill’s solo homer off Chris Washington made it 1-0 Windy City in the fourth. The ThunderBolts would then bat around their order and score four more times in the fifth inning, all with two outs on RBI hits by Riley Krane and Tim Zier along with a throwing error to put the Miners in a 5-0 hole.

Southern Illinois, however, would climb out of that hole beginning immediately against Windy City starter Drake Robison in the bottom of the fifth inning. Robison hit Ryan Sluder leading off before the Miners’ first hit of the game, a single to left field by London Lindley, was misplayed by Coco Johnson, allowing Sluder to score and make it 5-1. The next pitch was hit fair down the first base line by Craig Massey for a double to bring Lindley home for a 5-2 score, and three batters later, after two walks and a popout along with a pitching change, Brett Wiley reached base on an error by Balkwill at first base with the bases loaded to make it 5-3 ThunderBolts.

The Miners were not finished. Back-to-back walks by Lindley and Massey off of Andrew Lowe (0-1) set things up for Romeo Cortina, whose sinking line drive into center field bounced past Keenyn Walker and rolled to the warning track, resulting in a triple that scored the tying runs and knotted the score at 5-5. After another pitching change, Nolan Earley hit a ground ball to Zier at second base, who then tried to throw home to nab Cortina trying to score. His throw was not in time as Cortina slid in safely to make the score 6-5 Southern Illinois.

The Miners’ bullpen took care of the rest, as after a leadoff single by Walker in the top of the seventh inning, Kyle Grana came in for eventual winning pitcher Corey Sessions (2-5). Walker was caught stealing by James Alfonso, and Grana would fan four of the five hitters he faced in two scoreless innings. John Werner then struck out two more ThunderBolts in a perfect ninth for his 14th save as the Miners took the final game of the weekend set.

Lindley and Massey led the Miners’ offense with two runs scored each. Southern Illinois was out-hit in the game 10 to four, but drew eight walks against the Windy City staff while also clubbing three of their four hits for extra bases.

The Miners will next remain home to host the Gateway Grizzlies in a midweek series beginning on Wednesday night with a doubleheader at 6:05 p.m.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

Lou Brock announces he’s cancer free

ST. LOUIS, MO-  (Kevin Held, KTVI-TV.  Please click on the link above for the full story)

Hall of Famer Lou Brock received wonderful news from doctors at Mercy Hospital on Friday. Three months after being diagnosed with blood cancer, the Cardinals legend announced he’s cancer free.

Brock was diagnosed in April with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer formed by malignant plasma cells. These cells are found in the bone marrow and are an important part of the immune system.

The Brocks released the following statement late Friday afternoon:

“To God be the glory! Today I received the greatest news ever. My doctor informed me that I am cancer free. The battle against Cancer is not easy. However I remained hopeful. I would like to thank my family, friends and fans for all their prayers and support during the battle. With the power of Almighty God all things are possible!”

 

From the Southern Illinois Miners

MARION, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners vaulted out to an early lead on Thursday night against the Schaumburg Boomers at Rent One Park, and led the entire game while turning away two late pushes by the visitors in a 5-3 victory, taking the midweek series in Marion two games to one.

The Miners got started right away in the bottom of the first against Schaumburg starter Lars Liguori (5-3) after Matt Parish retired the Boomers in order in the top half of the inning. Brett Wiley and Romeo Cortina led off with singles and Craig Massey hit into a fielder’s choice with all runners being safe on the play to make it 1-0. Two batters later, a sacrifice fly by Ryan Lashley made the score 2-0, and Ben Moore followed up with a two-out RBI single for a 3-0 cushion.

Parish (2-1) would dominate on the hill early in the contest, permitting just one baserunner in the first three innings while facing the minimum nine total batters. The right-hander would finish with a quality start, allowing two runs on six hits in six and one-third innings. In the bottom of the third inning, the Miners got him more run support- after Massey reached on an error by the shortstop Josh Gardiner, Craig Massoni smacked a two-run homer to right field into the visiting bullpen, his seventh of the season and second with the Miners, to push the lead out to 5-0.

That would go down as the game-winning hit for Southern Illinois, and the Boomers would score single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to make it a 5-2 ballgame. In the seventh, Parish departed after walking the leadoff man and hitting Gardiner with a pitch to bring the tying run to the plate, but Austin Dubsky got the Miners out of trouble with no runs allowed.

After a scoreless eighth inning by Kyle Grana, the Boomers would score an unearned run with a two-out rally in the ninth. After John Werner struck out the first two men he faced, an error by Massey extended the game, and the Boomers’ next three batters reached base, with Jack Parenty’s bases-loaded walk making the score 5-3. Werner, however, got Kyle Ruchim to pop out to right field to end the game and give the Miners the series victory.

Southern Illinois will look to make it three wins in a row when they continue their nine-game homestand on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Windy City ThunderBolts. Tyler Stubblefield will take the hill for the Miners in the series opener while Zac Westcott will pitch in the game for Windy City.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.