TRAVERSE CITY, MI – The ThunderBolts dropped their fourth straight game Sunday evening as the Traverse City Beach Bums lead throughout a 6-1 decision at Wuerfel Park.
The Beach Bums wasted no time getting on the board as leadoff batter Greg Harisis blooped a double down the right field line in the bottom of the first. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Yazy Arbelo’s infield single. Later in the inning, the Beach Bums had runners at second and third with two outs when Josh Miller reached on a dropped third strike. Doug Joyce’s throw to first was errant, allowing Jovan Rosa to score from second.
In the third inning, the Beach Bums didn’t need the defensive help as they scored twice more. Jeff DeBlieux led off with a double and two batters later, Jovan Rosa hit his fourth home run of the year, making it 4-0.
The Beach Bums scored two more runs in the sixth. After Travis Tingle retired the first two batters, Rosa walked in front of three consecutive singles. Miller and Kevin Taylor picked up RBIs in the inning.
The ThunderBolts had a baserunner in six of the first seven innings, but Rusty Shellhorn did not face any serious trouble as the Bolts got just one man to third base. They finally broke through in the eighth. Garrett Carey led off with a walk and moved to third on Evan Button’s two-out single. Mike Torres followed with his second hit of the day, scoring Carey to make it 6-1. The ThunderBolts would load the bases but not score again in the inning.
Shellhorn (3-0) lasted a career-long 7.2 innings, allowing just one run and Tingle (4-3) gave up six runs (five earned) in six innings for the loss.
The ThunderBolts will take Monday off before continuing their roadtrip on Tuesday in Southern Illinois. Josh Spence (0-2, 6.75) will start game one at Rent One Park for the ThunderBolts. First pitch against the Miners is scheduled for 7:05 and the broadcast can be heard on meridix.com.
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