Schaumburg Boomers sweep Gateway to reach championship series

The Schaumburg Boomers held off the Gateway Grizzlies and swept the best-of-five Midwest Conference Finals, scoring a 4-2 decision on the road Friday night to reach the championship series for the sixth time in franchise history.

Schaumburg opened the scoring in the fourth inning for the second consecutive contest. Banks Tolley drew a two-out walk and Nick Podkul followed with a double off the wall. Aaron Simmons put the Boomers on the scoreboard with an opposite-field bloop to left, and Alex Calarco followed with a single up the middle to score Podkul. Gateway drew within 2-1 on a solo homer from Cole Brannen in the bottom of the fifth.

The Boomers will open the best-of-five Frontier League Championship Series on the road Tuesday night against either Quebec or Tri-City.