Normal, IL- The O’Fallon Hoots swept a doubleheader against the Normal Cornbelters on Saturday night, giving them a 2-0 start to the second half of the Prospect League season and extending their winning streak to ten games overall.
Top Performers:
Jake Collier (game 1)- 5.0 IP, 3 Hs 2 ERs, 4 Ks, 3 BBs
Zach Taylor (game 2)- 7.0 IP, 2 Hs, 7 Ks, 3 BBs
Nick Bonczkowski (game 2)- 2-5, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, 2 Rs
How It Happened:
The Hoots offense showed up in a big way on Saturday. In Game 1, O’Fallon scored three runs in the first on RBI hits by Jake McGhee and Nick Steurer, followed by an RBI fielder’s choice by Griffin Brown. The hits kept coming in the second, with Sam Paule and Jake McGhee notching RBIs. A Griffin Brown RBI double in the fifth made the score 6-0.
That was more than enough for Jake Collier, who continued his strong pitching. He pitched five total innings, only allowing two runs in the fifth on a pair of RBI hits. Mason Burke came in and pitched two scoreless innings to end Game 1 at the score of 6-2.
Game 2 got off to a bit of a slower start. Nick Bonczkowski continued to be one of the hottest hitters around, as he hit a solo home run in the top of the second. A double steal in the fourth resulted in John Connors scoring to make the score 2-0.
Zach Taylor, meanwhile, had one of the best pitching performances by a Hoots starter, pitching a complete game shutout and holding the Cornbelters to only two hits. They would only have five hits total between both games.
While the two runs would have been more than enough for Zach Taylor, the Hoots opened the floodgates in the fifth. After two runs scored on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly, Nick Bonczkowski hit a grand slam to drive the score up to 8-0. O’Fallon proved relentless on the day, driving in another six in the seventh inning, capped by RBI singles by Jake McGhee and John Connors as the Hoots would win 14-0.
The Hoots will play at home against the Danville Dans on Sunday in the teams’ first matchup of the season.
