The Schaumburg Boomers placed the tying run at third in the top of the ninth inning but suffered a 3-2 loss to the Windy City ThunderBolts in the opener of a mid-week series on Tuesday night.
Schaumburg opened the scoring in the top of the third when Matt McGarry led off with his third homer of the year. Dan Robinson connected on a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning for Windy City against starter Bryan Ketchie, who was making his second professional appearance. Robinson owns four homers, all against the Boomers. The contest was delayed for a little over 15 minutes in the bottom of the fifth due to rain. Windy City added an insurance run in the seventh to lead 3-2. With two outs in the ninth Alberto Schmidt drew a walk and Alec Craig singled. Pinch runner Brett Milazzo executed a double steal with Craig and McGarry tallied his third hit to draw the Boomers within 3-2 before Windy City was able to close out the win. The Boomers were down to their final strike in four consecutive ninth inning at bats.
Ketchie worked 6.1 innings and suffered the loss, allowing three runs with a walk and six strikeouts. McGarry finished with three hits as the Boomers totaled 10 in the 13th game with 10 or more hits. Craig and Clint Hardy added two each.
The Boomers (16-14) continue the series tomorrow night with RHP Ryan Middendorf (2-2, 2.84) on the mound against LHP Miguel Ausua (2-0, 3.81) in the 7:05 p.m. contest. Schaumburg returns home for Independence Day weekend with three nights of fireworks. Visit www.boomersbaseball.com for tickets and information or call 847-461-3695.