Salata throws shutout, Schaumburg Boomers take two-game lead in playoff series

Derek Salata was dominant, tossing a shutout to lead the Schaumburg Boomers to a 9-0 win over the Gateway Grizzlies at Wintrust Field on Wednesday night and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Salata opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning to set the tone, the first of four such innings in the game. Gateway created an opportunity in the top of the third, placing runners at second and third with one away, but Salata utilized a shallow flyout and a groundball to escape the threat, the lone real chance Gateway created against him.

Schaumburg had just one baserunner through the first three innings and did not record a hit but scored six runs against three pitchers in the fourth on seven hits to break away. Frontier League MVP Anthony Calarco opened the scoring with a two-run double, the third of five consecutive hits to open the inning.

Aaron Simmons made it 3-0 with an opposite field RBI single to left. Alec Craig recorded a two-run single that made the score 5-0 and Christian Fedko finished off the rally with the seventh hit, his second of the inning, a single to score Kyle Fitzgerald.

The Boomers will look to sweep as the series shifts to Gateway for Game 3 at 7:05 p.m. Friday.