Boomers thump Evansville, 11-6

The Schaumburg Boomers raced out to an early lead with a 5-run second inning and cruised to an 11-6 victory over the Evansville Otters Wednesday afternoon at Boomers Stadium.

Although it had been 35 games since the Boomers (49-37) faced a left-handed starter, they chased Evansville lefty Matt Crim in the second with the 5-run outburst. Chase Fontaine contributed a 2-run double, and a double by catcher Mike Valadez off the wall in left put the Boomers up by four. Valadez later scored on a wild pitch.

Schaumburg starter Alex Rivers took advantage of the early lead to improve to 4-3. The California native needed just 81 pitches over seven innings. Rivers struck out 3 and walked none.

Steve McQuail, who finished 2-4 with a pair of runs scored and 2 RBI, moved into a tie for third in the Frontier League with his 19th home run of the season for the Boomers. McQuail and Drew Heithoff both pushed their hitting streaks to nine games, and Frank Pfister snapped a 28-game homerless stretch with his first home run in a month for Schaumburg.