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CRESTWOOD, IL – The ThunderBolts scored in the first five innings Thursday night in a 15-5 rout of the Traverse City Beach Bums in the series opener at Standard Bank Stadium.

The onslaught began in the first inning when Brandon Anderson reached on a walk and made it to third on a steal and sacrifice bunt. Billy Nowlin knocked him in on a single for the first run. Nowlin moved to third on Devin Shepherd’s double and scored on a wild pitch. Chad Cregar then drove in Shepherd and himself on a two-run homer, his third of the year.

The Beach Bums responded with a two-run second when Zach Pace drove in two on a single.

Windy City scored in the second on Matt Smith’s second wild pitch. It scored Anderson who had singled, stolen second and reached third on an error.

Again, Traverse City responded, this time on a Hector Bernal solo home run, but the Bolts offense kept chugging along. They sent ten batters to the plate in the third, scoring five runs. The first two came across the plate on a Lee Rubin single that chased Smith from the game. After a two-base error on JT Hall put Rubin on second, Chase Porch welcomed Bryce Morrow to the game with a sacrifice fly. With the bases empty and one out, the Bolts started another rally when Anderson singled and Kuroczko walked and they stole second and third. Anderson scored on yet another wild pitch and Kuroczko came in on a Nowlin single.

The Bums scored twice more on a Chase Burch double in the fourth, but Windy City put them away once and for all in the bottom of the inning. Porch drove in Chris Wade on a single, Kuroczko walked with the bases loaded, Nowlin singled home Porch and Anderson scored on a Shepherd groundout.

Rubin’s fifth-inning sacrifice fly finished the scoring at 15-5. Anderson had four hits, four stolen bases and four runs scored in the game and Nowlin added three hits and three RBI.

Dustin Williams allowed five runs over six innings while striking out seven to become the league’s first eight-game winner (8-3). Smith took the loss (0-4) and Matt Costello pitched the final three innings for his first save.

The Bolts and Bums match up in game two on Friday night. Bryant Cotton (4-4) starts for Windy City against Traverse City’s Bryan Banes (7-0). It’s Budweiser Fill ‘R Up Friday at Standard Bank Stadium meaning domestic draft beers are just $1.00. The live broadcast can be heard on SportsJuice.com.

Box Score