Boomers’ rally falls short

For the second straight game, a Schaumburg Boomers late rally comes up short as the visiting Washington Wild Things stranded Mike Valadez at third base en route to an 8-7 victory Sunday.

The loss to the Wild Things (18-29) marked just the second series the Boomers (29-19) failed to win at home during their inaugural season.

The Boomers head into the Frontier League all-Star break atop the West Division. The Boomers will send 10 representatives to Wednesday’s All-Star Game in Normal, including five players and five coaches. Frank Pfister is scheduled to start at third base and participate in Tuesday’s home run derby.

Valadez, who was 3-for-5, led off the ninth with his second double. The Boomers’ catcher moved to third with one out on a 2-strike sacrifice bunt by Jereme Milons. But Wild Things reliever Chandler Barnard retired the next two hitters on a pair of groundouts to preserve the win.

Every member of the starting lineup had at least 1 hit as the Boomers had 15. Nate Baumann, who also went 3-for-5, added a triple and scored 3 runs. The Boomers’ Patrick Mincey suffered his first loss of the season after allowing a run on 2 hits in the ninth.

After spotting the Wild Things 2 runs in the first, the Boomers scored three times in the third, capped off by Valadez’s RBI-single to take a 3-2 lead. The Wild Things broke open the game with 4 runs in the sixth on 3 hits to take a 7-4 advantage, but the Boomers battled back to tie the game. Mozingo collected his team-leading 14th and 15th two-out RBI with a sharp single to right in the sixth, and Valadez crossed the plate on Karexon Sanchez’s single in the seventh.