The Schaumburg Boomers held leads of 4-0 and 5-1 but the Gateway Grizzlies scored nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to record a 12-7 victory in the St. Louis area on Saturday night.
After being retired in order during the first, the Boomers plated four runs in the second. Five straight batters reached in the inning including four consecutive singles. Michael Gould and Sam Kuchinski tallied RBI singles as part of the stretch. Alec Craig lifted a sacrifice fly and Christian Fedko doubled home a run to cap the scoring in the inning. Gateway scored a run in the bottom of the inning but Anthony Calarco pushed the edge to 5-1 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, driving home his 79th run of the season. Gateway scored nine runs in the fifth, taking advantage of three errors to erase the deficit and lead 10-5. Andrew Sojka homered for the sixth time in seven games to draw Schaumburg within 11-7 in the eighth but Gateway added a single run in the bottom to account for the final.
Derek Salata suffered the loss on the mound despite allowing just two earned runs. Kai Taylor threw three innings in relief. The offense has placed runners on base in 17 of the 18 innings in the series but have dropped both contests. Sojka finished a triple shy of the cycle in the loss, tallying three hits. Gould, Kuchinski and Aaron Simmons all posted a pair of hits as the Boomers finished with 11.
The Boomers (37-22) wrap up the first series after the All-Star break tomorrow night at 5:30pm with the finale against the Grizzlies. All-Star LHP Cole Cook (5-3, 4.23) is the scheduled starter for the Boomers against RHP Bennett Stice (2-0, 2.82). The team returns home for six games this week. The fun of the 2025 season is just getting started. Tickets for all home games this summer are now on sale! Make plans to be part of the fun! Visit www.boomersbaseball.com or call 847-461-3695 to secure yours.