Despite drawing first blood in the second inning, the Sussex County Miners (17-22) couldn’t answer the Schaumburg Boomers’ (20-20) response on Wednesday. The Miners late comeback attempt wasn’t quite enough, ending in a 5-4 loss.
Sussex County’s first run came after multiple mistakes by Schaumburg. Miners right fielder Makhi Backstrom reached first on a throwing error by Boomers first baseman Kyle Fitzgerald, and then advanced to third on another error while attempting to steal second. Sussex County shortstop Evan Berkey then singled to score Backstrom.
Miners starter Kellen Brothers opened the night with two scoreless innings, but couldn’t keep that momentum for much longer. His third frame began with back-to-back doubles by Jeff Nicol and Will Prater to even the score. Soon after, Boomers right fielder Christian Fedko singled to drive in Prater and give Schaumburg a 2-1 lead.
While the Miners tied it in the fourth on an RBI single from first baseman Dean Ferrara, Brothers gave the lead right back in the fifth when Boomers first baseman Kyle Fitzgerald drove in left fielder Kellum Clark. The right-hander’s night ended shortly after with five innings pitched, six hits, four walks, five strikeouts, and three earned runs.
Sussex County’s offense fell flat for the next few innings while Schaumburg added two more runs – one off Jacob Widener in the seventh, and one off John Perozzi in the eighth.
Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Miners’ offense found a new life after Boomers starter Buddie Pindel was pulled. Schaumburg reliever Holland Townes hit Sussex County third baseman Haiden Walters with a pitch, and designated hitter Sean Roby Jr. made him pay with a two-run homer to make it a one-run game.
After allowing a walk and single afterwards, Townes was replaced without recording a single out. Aaron Glickstein came in with two runners on, and quickly shut down the Miners’ momentum in just three batters. A strikeout to Evan Barkey, flyout by Sandro Gaston, and fielder’s choice from Edwin Mateo ended the inning with the Boomers still ahead by one run.
With one final chance in the ninth, Sussex County came up short against Schaumburg closer Aaron Glickstein. A walk to Hunter D’Amato put him on base, and a sacrifice bunt from Walters put him in scoring position. However, Glickstein ended the Miners’ night abruptly after that. The next two batters, Roby and Keenan Taylor, both struck out swinging to spoil Sussex County’s comeback bid and hand the Miners a 5-4 defeat.
Kellen Brothers was given his third loss in seven starts, and Sussex County dropped back-to-back games for the first time in just over three weeks.
With the loss, the Miners fall to fourth place in the Atlantic East Division, sitting five games out of first place. Sussex County looks to avoid a three-game sweep tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. Watch all Miners games live on HomeTeam Network and listen to the live Miners Radio Network broadcast on Mixlr.
Written by Austin Raiche
Late Game Rally Falls Short, Boomers Take Game Two
