The Schaumburg Boomers surrendered five runs late but held off the Florence Y’Alls in a 6-5 win to open the series.
Schaumburg took the lead in the top of the first. Alec Craig led off the game with a blooper into right that was ruled as an error and crossed the plate on a fielder’s choice from Brett Milazzo. Clint Hardy drilled a three-run homer in the top of the second to extend the lead to 4-0. Nick Oddo singled home Matt Bottcher in the fourth and Angelo Gumbs lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth as the Boomers scored in four of the first five frames. The bats cooled off following the hot start and Florence was able to chip away at the deficit with a pair of runs against the bullpen in the eighth and scored three times in the ninth before stranding the tying run on base.
Ryan Middendorf was dealing on the mound, pitching seven shutout frames in front of an entire section of fans. Middendorf, who is from less than an hour away from Florence, retired the first 13 batters of the game. The righty allowed just three hits with a walk and seven strikeouts to win his fourth consecutive start. Middendorf has worked 14.2 innings without allowing a run.
The Boomers (34-26) continue the series on Wednesday night with LHP Jesse Remington (1-0, 1.35) on the mound against LHP Casey Grimm (2-1, 5.56). Schaumburg returns home on August 6 to begin a stacked homestand that features three fireworks nights. Visit www.boomersbaseball.com for tickets and information or call 847-461-3695.