Boomers get past Miners

In the first game of a crucial series with major playoff implications, Schaumburg Boomers starter Robby Donovan led his squad to a pivotal 5-2 victory over the Southern Miners at Boomers Stadium Tuesday evening.

The Boomers' ace battled through 7 innings and allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits to improve to 10-5 on the season. Lefty Adam Tollefson retired the only two batters he faced in the eighth as the bridge to closer Patrick Mincey in the ninth. Mincey worked a perfect ninth with a pair of strikeouts to earn his 15th save of his first professional season as the Boomers (52-39) improved to 44-0 when leading after eight innings and 33-16 at Boomers Stadium.

Schaumburg appeared to fall behind by two runs early on a Chris Anderson single to center. However, with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fourth, the Miners (53-37) sent a pair runners across the plate on the Anderson base hit only to have Jason Ganek called out for missing third base. The inning ended with score 1-0, instead of two runs on the board for the Miners and Cannon Lester upwith runners on first and second.

In the very next half inning, the Boomers capitalized on the momentum swing with a two-out rally to take the lead. With nobody on, Jereme Milons and Mike Valadez got things rolling with back-to-back singles. First baseman Brandon Gregorich made it three singles in a row when he knocked in Milons fromsecond and tied the game at one run apiece. After Karexon Sanchez drew a free pass in a nine-pitch battle, Nate Baumann gave the Boomers the lead on a two-RBI single. The Boomers rookie right fielder finished 2-4 on the night with three runs batted in and a run scored to lead the charge for the Schaumburg offense.