T-Bolts fall short
It was a good day for Windy City to have a promotion directed at school children, for the ThunderBolts showed they still have to learn a few things about fundamentals, especially in the field.
"On this level, it's going to kill you," ThunderBolts manager Brian Nelson said after a 5-2 loss to undefeated Evansville before 3,214 fans, the great majority of them kids. Included in the loss were five wild pitches by T-Bolts pitchers and a passed ball by catcher Danny Sawyer.
There was more to it than that, including seven walks, one with the bases loaded. But suffice it to say, failure of the pitchers, beginning with starter Amos Ramon (0-1), to find the catcher, and the catcher to keep the ball in front of him, was a contributing factor in Windy City's sixth loss in seven games.
Failure to hit in timely fashion hasn't helped, either. The T-Bolts managed seven hits Wednesday, but only two came in the same inning, and those runners were stranded. Two of the hits were infield hits, one because Evansville shortstop Ryan Bethel lost Wes Long's pop-up in the sun.
"We haven't put it all together," Nelson said. "We've hit the ball early in games, but haven't hit the ball late. Or vice versa."
Evansville scored three times in the seventh to erase a 2-0 T-Bolts lead. Justin Randall's single scored Tycen Povey. With two outs, Anthony Reybanski walked home Randall with the tying run, after which his wild pitch scored Michael Sullivan. The Otters scored two more in the eighth on a sacrifice fly and infield single, set up by a wild pitch and a walk.
The Otters, 8-0 and atop the Frontier League's West Division, won 34 games last season. The ThunderBolts won 68 and won the postseason title. Now, Windy City is 61/2 games behind the Otters barely a week into the season.
• Evansville's Alex Fonseca is expected to have surgery Friday to repair a broken right orbital bone, the result of being hit by a line drive during batting practice before Tuesday's game. He's expected to miss several weeks of action.
