A night after falling out of first place the Schaumburg Boomers vaulted back to the top of the West Division standings, leapfrogging the Gateway Grizzlies after breezing to a 17-5 win on Thursday night to salvage a game in the series between the two teams fighting in the standings at Wintrust Field.
Gateway opened the scoring with a single run in the top of the first. The lead did not last long as with two outs in the bottom of the inning Christian Fedko and Anthony Calarco walked. Banks Tolley slammed his 10th homer of the year to put the Boomers in front. Gateway scored in the top of the second to pull within a run before the Boomers exploded in the bottom of the inning, scoring eight runs to put the game out of reach early. Seven straight players reached base in the inning and six consecutive batters drove home runs. Nick Podkul was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home a run and Fedko followed by coaxing a bases loaded walk. Calarco smacked a two-run double to set another franchise record. The double was his 28th of the year, breaking the franchise single season mark. Tolley and Aaron Simmons notched RBI singles before Kyle Fitzgerald tripled home two and chased the Gateway starter.
Calarco knocked in two more in the third as the lead extended to 13-2. Calarco pushed his league record RBI total to 110 with nine games left. Leading 13-5 entering the last of the eighth the Boomers put four more on the board to account for the final. Simmons and Will Prater recorded RBI doubles in the inning while Fitzgerald added a two-run double.
Christian Johnson was the beneficiary of the run support, working five innings and striking out five. Aaron Glickstein, Nick Paciorek, Mitch White and Caleb Riedel all worked an inning to finish out the contest. The offense finished with 13 hits. Fitzgerald and Tolley both tallied three hits while driving home four. Calarco added two hits and four RBIs while Simmons posted two hits and two RBIs.
The Boomers (52-35), who are closing in on a fourth playoff appearance in five years with a magic number of two, will head on the road this weekend for three games against the leaders of the Central Division in Ohio, the Lake Erie Crushers. RHP Derek Salata (4-6, 6.78) is slated to start the opener against RHP Anthony Escobar (9-4, 2.54). The fun of the 2025 season is down to the final two weeks of the regular season with just three home games remaining. Get your tickets now for the remaining home games this summer at Wintrust Field before it’s too late. Make plans to be part of the fun! Visit www.boomersbaseball.com or call 847-461-3695 to secure yours.