wcthunderbolts.com

CRESTWOOD, IL – Kenny Mathews threw six strong innings and the ThunderBolts scored late for the second straight day to beat the River City Rascals 5-1 at Ozinga Field Sunday afternoon.

Mathews and Brendan Feldmann matched each other zero for zero over the first four innings before the ThunderBolts (24-29) broke the scoreless tie in the fifth. Singles for Micah Coffey and Brett Coffel put two on base in front of Omar Obregon who hit a grounder to short. 

An injury to centerfielder JD Hearn earlier in the game forced River City (28-25) to move their defense around and Braxton Martinez, playing his first career game at short, booted the Obregon grounder, allowing the first run to score. Brynn Martinez followed with an RBI single to extend his hit streak to 12 games and make it 2-0.

The Rascals answered in the sixth as Trevor Achenbach doubled and scored on a Nolan Meadows single.

Three late runs cemented the ThunderBolts’ lead. In the seventh, Justin Smith singled and stole second before scoring when Kameron Esthay dropped a flyball off the bat of Obregon.

The next inning, the Bolts loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. Smith picked up an RBI single and Tyler Straub drew a walk to extend the advantage to 5-1.

Mathews (2-6) ended up striking out seven and walking just one over his six innings for the win and Feldmann (3-1) was the tough luck loser. He allowed two runs (zero earned) in his five innings with six strikeouts and no walks.

The ThunderBolts take Monday off before returning to action on the road on Tuesday. Cole Bellair (2-1, 3.92) gets the game one start against the Washington Wild Things. First pitch from Wild Things Park is scheduled for 6:05 CDT and the broadcast can be heard at wcthunderbolts.com.

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