The Schaumburg Boomers waited through a rain delay of over an hour to start the night but suffered a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the Windy City ThunderBolts on Sunday night in the final meeting of the year between the two teams.
Windy City scored single runs in five different innings before putting a pair on the board in the eighth to pad the lead. The Boomers were twice able to tie the game against Bryan Ketchie, who made seven starts for Schaumburg this year. Alec Craig led off with a walk and scored on a triple to center from Chase Dawson. Dawson crossed the plate on a two-out single from Matt Bottcher. Trailing 4-2, Craig opened the fifth with a single and scored on a double to center off the bat of Matt McGarry. McGarry would score with two outs on a Clint Hardy gapper.
Ryan Middendorf worked into the sixth but suffered the loss, allowing four runs while striking out six. Darrell Thompson returned from the injured list to work 1.1 innings, striking out a pair. Andrew Cartier tossed the eighth while Thomas Nicoll posted the first 1-2-3 inning of the game in the ninth. Schaumburg struck out 10 batters in the game. Craig reached base five times in the game, scoring twice and drawing four walks. The four walks are tied for the second most in single game history and marked just the fifth time a player walked four times or more. Dawson finished with two hits including his sixth triple, tied for the league lead and the fourth most in single season history. Hardy also finished with a pair of hits in the loss.
The Boomers (34-31) take Monday off before continuing the action-packed homestand by welcoming Equipe Quebec on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. The contest will feature $1 hot dogs on Olympic Night. RHP Kyle Arjona (7-4, 2.38) takes the mound in opener of the only series against a team from the East. Visit www.boomersbaseball.com for tickets and information or call 847-461-3695.