CORNBELTERS TAKE GAME ONE

7/2/2010 - TRAVERSE CITY, MI –- Traverse City Beach Bums starter Michael Moore matched Normal ace Tyler Lavigne for five innings before Normal scored three seventh inning runs as the CornBelters beat the Beach Bums 5-1.

The Beach Bums cracked the scoreboard in the first inning as Matt Brown led off with a single followed by a walk to Jason Codiroli and an error allowing Michael Diaz to reach, loading up the bases. Chase Burch drove home Brown with a groundout for a 1-0 Beach Bums lead.

Normal would tie the game in the third inning on an RBI groundout from Daniel Cox and took the lead in the sixth on a double from Brad Augustin, scoring Ross McCoy to put the CornBelters up 2-1. Three runs came across in the seventh to create the final margin.

The runs were enough for Tyler Lavigne (7-2) who came into the game leading the league in ERA and didn’t disappoint, pitching his second complete game in a row allowing one unearned run on five hits. Michael Moore kept the Beach Bums in the game for five innings, matching Lavigne pitch-for-pitch. Richard Folmer and Scott Mueller combined for three
scoreless innings of relief, striking out four. Ulysses Roque (0-1) suffered the defeat for TC.

Offensively, it was a night for extending hitting streaks on both sides. J. T. Hall recorded an infield single in the fourth to push his hit streak to 15 while Matt Brown delivered a pair of hits to run his streak to 10 games. Ross McCoy singled in the second for Normal, stretching his streak to 17, the longest active hit streak in the Frontier League.

Game two of the series comes up on Saturday with Enrique Lechuga (2-3, 3.97) on the mound for the Beach Bums against Dan Blewett (3-3, 4.10) for Normal. Traverse City holds their annual Welcome Home Night on Saturday July 3 where the Beach Bums will honor all veterans. Pregame festivities include an on-field ceremony honoring all veterans in attendance and a flyover by a B-17 Yankee Air Force World War II era bomber. There will be an extended fireworks bonanza after the game. For more information or tickets, call 231-943-0100 or visit tcbeachbums.com.