Boomers rally for 8-7 walk-off win

The Schaumburg Boomers concluded the regular season in grand fashion, scoring a 9-8 walk-off victory to sweep the visiting Normal CornBelters.

Ryan McChesney responded following an intentional walk with a double deep to left, bringing home Tony Delmonico and Mark Nelson to erase an 8-7 deficit in the ninth for the Boomers' third straight comeback win and a fifth walk-off.

The Boomers fell behind 3-0 in the first before scoring 7 straight runs. Delmonico nailed his 12th homer in the bottom of the first to tie the game. Jordan Dean homered as part of a 4-run fourth.

Starter Justin Erasmus worked 4 innings before four relievers combined to finish the contest. Cal Bowling earned the win, his ninth, by working the ninth in his second relief outing of the season. Schaumburg finished with 11 hits, the Boomers' 38th game with 10 or more hits. Alexi Colon had 3 hits.

The Boomers tied for first in the West Division, winning 13 of the final 14 games but lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with the River City Rascals. The two teams tied for the best record in the league. Schaumburg finished 40-11 at home in the regular season, setting a league record for home victories.

Schaumburg (61-35) will host a winner-take-all wild-card game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against the Lake Erie Crushers in a rematch of the 2013 championship series to begin defense of the 2013 championship.