O’Fallon Hoots Mercy Rule Cornbelters for Sixth Straight Win

The O’Fallon Hoots (11-8) won their sixth consecutive game Saturday night by beating the Normal Cornbelters (9-7) 16-4 in seven innings.

The Hoots were walked a total of nine times in the game, seven of those coming from Normal’s starter, Clayton Johnson. O’Fallon put up five runs on one hit in the first inning and six runs on one hit in the second to get out to an 11-3 lead after two innings.

Alex Adams collected two hits, reached base four times in four at-bats, stole a base and scored three times in the win. Cole Robinson and Andy Bunton also had two-hit nights for O’Fallon, each driving in a run.

On the mound, Anthony Klein was awarded his second win of the season, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings in relief and striking out two. His season ERA stands at a miniscule 1.86 in 9.2 innings. Jacob Frost made his second Hoots start, gutting through four innings, surrendering four earned runs on three hits, walking six and striking out three. Jack Jones and Jack Weber combined for the final 1.2 innings with Jones striking out one and walking one.

The win was the first mercy-rule win of the season for O’Fallon, who kept pace with the first place Alton River Dragons, who won tonight in Springfield. The Hoots saw a couple of spectacular defensive plays Saturday as well. Will Doherty made a diving stop at third in the fifth, and Andy Bunton cut down a Belter runner, Xaver Watson, in the fourth.

The Hoots are off for two days and return to action Tuesday on the road against the Cape Catfish. O’Fallon will then play at CarShield Field on Wednesday night, also against the division rival Catfish. First pitch is at 6:35, gates open at 5:35 and General Admission tickets to CarShield Field are $10 the day of the game.