BEACH BUMS WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT, SNAP MINERS STREAK

6/29/2010 - MARION, IL – The Traverse City Beach Bums scored a season high 11 runs as the Beach Bums won their fifth game in a row, downing the Southern Illinois Miners 11-2.

The win snapped the Miners Frontier League record 20-game winning streak

Traverse City showed no signs of bus lag as the Beach Bums jumped on Miners’ starter Chris Allen right out of the gate. After a flyout to begin the game, three straight singles loaded the bases. J. T. Hall bounced a ball in front of the plate. Allen came off the mound to field the ball and flip on to home for the force. The toss was in time, but Mark Kelly was not standing on the plate as Kyle Eveland slid in safely with the first run of the game.

That miscue would open the floodgates as TC would score four more runs in the inning, keyed by a two-run single from Bobby Spain to put up a 5-0 score heading to the bottom of the first.

Southern Illinois would score a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI groundout from Mark Kelly to dent the scoreboard for the first time. Traverse City would counter in the fourth. With the bases loaded. Spain hit a slow roller out to short. Michael Stalter fielded cleanly, but threw wide to first allowing a pair of runs to score and putting the Beach Bums up 7-1. A homerun by Tyler Bullock after a 12-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the inning brought Southern Illinois back to a five-run deficit.

The Beach Bums would put the game to bed in the seventh inning when a pair of walks with one out led to an RBI opportunity for Matt Brown. The TC rightfielder cashed in, singling to left to make it 8-2 TC. With Jason Codiroli on third, Robert Hedrick uncorked a wild pitch allowing Codiroli to score and moving Brown to second for a 9-2 Beach Bums lead. Two more runs would come in for the inning on an triple from Michael Diaz and a single by Chase Burch to give Traverse City a nine-run lead.

The runs were more than enough for the Beach Bums who got five innings of out Ryan Platt (4-1) who earned the victory. Richard Folmer was splendid in relief tossing three shutout innings, striking out four. Chris Allen (0-1) took the loss for the Miners.

The Beach Bums were led offensively by three RBI from Bobby Spain and a three-hit night from Chase Burch. J. T. Hall singled in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games.

The middle game of the series comes up on Wednesday with Jonny Bravo (1-0, 1.26) on the mound for Traverse City against Eric Fussell (3-1, 5.54) for the Miners. Game time is set for 8:05 p.m. with the Budweiser Traverse City Beach Bums Pregame Show starting at 7:45 on Sunny Country 101.9. TC returns home for an Independence Weekend series against the Normal Cornbelters on Friday. For more information or tickets, call 231-943-0100 or visit tcbeachbums.com.