NORMAL – For as much as the Normal CornBelters of the Prospect League tried to keep pace with their guests from Burlington and Quincy at The Corn Crib this past weekend, their opponents managed to score double-digits to leave the team with an 0-2 mark for the weekend, losing to league newcomer Burlington Friday, 10-6, and again to Quincy, 13-7 Saturday. The CornBelters closed out the weekend at 7-7 in the Great River Conference of the Western Division as a result of the weekend’s action.

Quincy Outpaces CornBelters Saturday, 13-7: New to the Prospect League, the Burlington Bees made sure the Normal CornBelters felt their scoring sting early and often, scoring 10 runs in the 2nd through 5th innings as they beat the CornBelters, 13-7, Saturday night.

A double by CornBelters first baseman Brennan Orf help shortstop Will Carpenter score giving Normal a fast 1-0 lead. Quincy scored three runs in the top of the 2nd inning led by a double by Trent Youngblood. His hit was followed infielder Matt Schark and a double by catcher Bryce Miller. Hits by leadoff batter Gino D’Alessio and Jackson Galloway allowed the Gems to have a 3-run inning, putting the Gems up, 3-1 after two innings and scored two more each in the 3rd and 4th innings, putting Quincy up, 7-1. In the bottom of the 4th inning, a home run into right center field by Orf cut Quincy’s lead scoring both Orf and right fielder Avery Owusu Asiedu cutting Quincy’s lead, 7-3.

A home run with two on by Quincy designated hitter Jake Skrine in the top of the 5th inning put Quincy up, 10-3. CornBelters center fielder Billy Gerlott singled and scored as the next batters hit out to fielders, cutting the Gems lead to 10-4 in the home half of the 5th inning.

CornBelters right fielder Will Carpenter singled and stole both second and third base before scoring making it home on an Orf base hit, reducing Quincy’s lead, 10-5 in the bottom of the 7th. The Gems would score two more in the top of the 8th inning, and a triple by Carpenter scored Gerlott for Normal (7-7 after Saturday’s games), but Quincy (5-10 as of Sunday) would score three more runs in the top of the 9th inning to wind up with the eventual final score. Bennett Stice was the winning pitcher for Quincy while Nate Gorczyca took the loss for the CornBelters.

Expansion Burlington Earns Friday Win Over ‘Belters, 10-6: A four-run 4th inning by Normal was countered by Burlington with four-run of their own Friday night at The Corn Crib as the visiting Bees beat the CornBelters, 10-6. A second inning home run by infielder Austin Simpson put the Bees on the board first for a fast 1-0 lead. Burlington (8-7 after Saturday’s games). The Bees added a run in the top of 4th inning when singles by infielders Austin Simpson and Kevin Santiago aided in scoring infielder Jackson Jones who got on base earlier, increasing the Bees’ lead, 2-0.

Normal scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as outfielder Daniel Bolt led off with a double and was followed by a triple by Avery Owusu Asiedu scoring Bolt, 2-1. A single by designated hitter Alex Steinbach drove in Asiedu tying the score at 2-2. A single by Orf helped Steinbach push Normal in front, 3-2 and Normal went up 4-2 when Orf scored on a hit by infielder Andy Bunton. But an inning later, Burlington tied the game, 4-4 on a two-run home run by right fielder Jackson Jones with one on.

Asiedu scored again in the seventh inning after singling and scoring on a hit by Orf, overtaking the Bees, 5-4. The Bees added two runs including a home run by Burlington left fielder Marcos Sanchez in the top of the 8th inning, putting the Bees up, 6-5. Burlington would have four runs in the top of the ninth to go up, 10-5. The CornBelters’ final run would be the result of a lone home run by Bolt.

Garrett Langrell was the winning pitcher for Burlington with Normal’s Treyton Ruth taking the loss.

O’Fallon Visits Thursday, Doubleheader Against Burlington Here Friday: The CornBelters will have already played a doubleheader on the road at O’Fallon Wednesday and will be home to The Corn Crib Thursday to take on the Hoots in a 6:35p.m. contest. Friday, Burlington returns for a doubleheader starting at 5:35p.m. The CornBelters will finish the weekend with single games on the road at Cape Girardeau, Mo. Saturday and at Illinois Valley in Peru, Ill. Sunday.

NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters of the Prospect League, after their first week, are just beginning to find their footing as the 2021 season begins. After all, 2020 wasn’t much for any of the league’s teams no thanks to COVID-19. They finished the first week of the new season at 2-2, dropping their season opener May 27 to Illinois Valley 6-0, beating Quincy, 8-4, and losing to newcomer Burlington, 13-2 May 28, and then taking that last loss out on Quincy again, 15-5, all at The Corn Crib.

‘Belters Come Up Empty Against Illinois Valley In Opener: Peru, Ill.-based Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp were the first guests for the 2021 season in The Corn Crib, but Pistol Shrimp center fielder Christian Merriwether lead off for his team, singled, stole second and scored thanks to a single from teammate Christian Garcia, putting Illinois Valley up, 1-0 to get the season going. They would add three more in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth inning while CornBelters batters’ attempts to get men on base and across home plate were foiled by their guests’ defensive efforts as the Pistol Shrimp marched to a 6-0 victory.

“It was just one of those games we weren’t able to get anything going early and their pitcher had a really good arm, and our guys really battled, and it’ll work itself out,” explained new CornBelters Manager Calvin Peacock afterward. From this point on, he said, “There will be a lot of moving parts, giving guys plenty of opportunities early and just kind of figure out how we want to roll for the rest of the season. But there’ll be a lot of moving parts.

“I was really impressed with our arms tonight, and our bats will come around,” Peacock said after the team’s first effort of the season.

Following his team’s first victory of the new season, Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp Manager John Jakiemiec was just happy to get the game played as earlier in the day on May 27, rain showers gave players pause as to whether the game would even be played. “When we left the bus, we had some dejected spirits thinking the game was not going to happen,” Jakiemiec said.

Mike Brown Honored Before First Game: Prior to the game, Mike Brown, who had a part in founding the Kernels Collegiate League giving area players an opportunity to play when COVID-19 abruptly ended many college teams’ players’ seasons last year, was honored by the team and fans in attendance. Brown, a Lexington native, died April 21 at age 51. A brief ceremony honoring Brown was held just prior to the start of the CornBelters’ first game May 27. Bloomington-Normal Baseball Association has set up a Memorial Scholarship Fund in Brown’s name. Paul Thompson, BNBA Director, said the organization awards a number of scholarships which are presented in the spring.

Upcoming Schedule: Having played at Burlington Wednesday, the CornBelters will play a daily game with Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp Thursday through Saturday, with a home game at The Corn Crib Friday starting at 6:35p.m. Burlington will visit for a single game Sunday. The team gets Monday off before playing at Cape Girardeau June 8-10, and returns home for two single games against Burlington Friday, June 11 and Quincy Saturday, June 12.

Local fans of baseball were denied their chance to sit in the 7,000-seat venue known as The Corn Crib last year due to the Coronavirus, and although as fall approached, there was a collegiate league, the Kernels Fall League, which left fans with a lingering reminder baseball was still around and would, hopefully, return the following spring. Well, we have arrived at spring, and for our patience, we baseball fans will get an opportunity to see the game played again by not just one league, but two, as the Normal CornBelters will rejoin the Prospect League this season, and a summer collegiate league will play at The Corn Crib as well.

Prospect League: The Normal CornBelters will be rejoining the Prospect League this season after the league suspended operations as a whole due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But upon their return this season, they will find a league which has expanded, had teams move, and will face some opponents in new places as they prepare to play a 60-game schedule divided between home and away contests.

There are now two conferences in the league with two divisions per conference, each with four teams in a division. The CornBelters are now members of the league’s Great River Division in the league’s Western Conference. That division will be home to some familiar foes for the CornBelters: Quincy Gems, Burlington Bees, and Clinton LumberKings. The other conference in the division is the Prairie Land Division, where the Cape Girardeau Catfish, Springfield Sliders, Alton River Dragons, and O’Fallon Hoots reside. If Burlington and Clinton sound familiar, they should because they are both former members of the Midwest League.

Game times are 6:35p.m. for single games and 5:35p.m. for doubleheaders. The opening week for the CornBelters will see the team play a different team over three nights, with Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp at The Corn Crib opening night Thursday, May 27, Quincy Gems on Friday, May 28, and Burlington Bees Saturday, May 29.

“We’re just excited to be back in the Prospect League,” said the CornBelters new general manager, Matt Durkin. “As a result of having more teams, we’ll play a lot games with the teams from our division such as Quincy as well as Burlington and Clinton. We’re just excited to have both of those teams in our league and go back to traveling and have a much broader scale across the Midwest.”

“Ticket sales for the Prospect League team started in January and they have been good the last few months, and they have really picked up here in early May and late April,” Durkin said. “We’ll be excited to see everyone back at The Corn Crib.”

At the time I interviewed Durkin, the league rosters were not being released but he did say there would be some Illinois State University baseball players on the team roster.

Kernels Collegiate League: As took place last fall, the Kernels Collegiate League will feature a quartet of teams with only nicknames and high school players looking to get some playing time in. The team names are: Bobcats, Bluecaps, Ground Sloths, and Howlers. The league will play a season running from May 30-Aug. 8. The Kernels Fall League will be back later this year, too.

Social Distancing To Be Employed: Durkin said The Corn Crib will abide by regulations established by the Center for Disease Control and the State of Illinois to keep folks as safe as possible with COVID-19 still a part of how we go about our everyday lives. To start, The Corn Crib will be at 25 percent capacity, Durkin said, but added he has heard both the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox will increase their stadium capacities to 60 percent which means that number could go up here, too. He said when CDC and State announce changes, The Corn Crib will change its attendance levels to match them.

New Ownership Group: The CornBelters now have new owners. The ownership group operated by Steve Malliet which operated the team since it began play during its first season in 2010 has sold the team to Play 9 Sports. That group is owned by Matt Stembridge, Rick DeStafane, and Jimmie Louthan. Stembridge serves as the team’s President of Operations.

As I get more information about players and other team-related items, I will pass them along. In the meantime, here’s hoping for nice warm nights, nice crowds, and plenty of success for both leagues’ teams this summer. Having missed it last year, we could all use a night (or two or three or several) out at the ol’ ball park.

NORMAL – Six runs in the sixth inning of the Kernels Fall League contest on Sept. 18 allowed CornBelters 16U squad to coast to a 10-1 win over 16U Hoots at The Corn Crib, getting week three underway.

After their first two batters struck out, CornBelters 16U took a fast 2-0 first inning lead courtesy of Dalton Kruger being walked and stole second, followed by Conner Landstrum’s single. A single by Aiden Boundy followed helping both runners cross home plate for a fast lead.

The 16U Hoots’ lone run came in the top of the fourth inning with one out starting with a triple by pitcher Clayton Garmon, making it home during an out by James Carlson. That cut CornBelters 16U’s lead to 2-1.

CornBelters 16U added two more runs, increasing their lead to 4-1 in the third inning, as Brady Bengston reached first base on a fielding error and make it to second on a single by Jake Morrill. Both men scored on a triple by Dalton Kruger.

CornBelters 16U’s 4th inning started slow, with Caleb Lehman striking out. With one down, Leif Blair singled and was followed by Connor Kearfott who reached first and was put out trying to advance to second as Blair scored, putting his team up, 5-1.

Drew Logan and Steven Darnell were the next two batters to reach base, Darnell doing it on an error and Bengston doubling clearing the bases, giving CornBelters 16U a 7-1 advantage.

The next batter, Parker Michaels walked and was followed by Morrill who singled. Morrill was followed by Ben Ponce who singled and helped Michaels score to put CornBelters 16U up, 8-1. With two men on, the next batter, Kruger, doubled, sending Morill and Ponce across the plate for the eventual final score.

Yard Goats Beat CornBelters 18U Win Sept. 11 Contest: Week two of Kernels Fall League Baseball action saw local athletes engage in a close game in the first of the two games played at The Corn Crib Friday night while game two ended after coaches mutually agreed to end the game deadlocked at 9-all after seven innings.

A double by Brazelton in the bottom of the fourth helped Jesse Worley from St. Joseph Ogden High home to tie the game, 1-1. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley product Hunter Brewer got credit for scoring the winning run. Brazelton claimed the win, while Alex Willey, a Normal Community West High player, took the loss.

Central Illinois 18U Outlaws, 29ers 18U Sept. 11 Game Ends In 9-9 Tie: In the nightcap game on Sept. 11, two teams with players primarily from outside central Illinois gave fans plenty of action to see, enough that by mutual agreement, both team coaches agreed to end the game after seven innings, with Central Illinois 18U Outlaws and 29ers 18U playing to a 9-9 tie. The majority of the players on the Outlaws roster were high school players from East Peoria area. The majority of 29ers 18U players were from Chicago with one exception – Patrick Mulcahey who was listed as having played high school ball at Bloomington Central Catholic.

Yard Goats Get Past BNBA Hoots, 2-1 In Sept. 4 Opener: The Yard Goats, an 18 and Under team comprised of high school students from Mahomet and Champaign areas defeated BNBA Hoots, 2-1, to open week two of KFL action Friday night. Bloomington High alum Nate Johnson, the Hoots’ leadoff man, singled to start the contest in the first inning.

But that was followed by a pair of quick strikeouts delivered by Yard Goats pitcher Hayden Brazelton, a St. Joseph Ogden High product, shutting down Hoots second baseman and Normal West High’s Mason Buzicky and U-High’s Chase Adams for two of the offense’s three quick outs. A double by Bloomington Central Catholic High’s David Broadbear scored Johnson for the only run in the inning putting the Hoots up, 1-0

CornBelters 18U Win Sept. 4 Opener: CornBelters 18U and Team Game 7 18U on opening night on Friday, Sept. 4 with 18U CornBelters winning, 4-3, thanks to University High’s Evan Kochel’s 4th inning grand slam home run, scoring teammates Adison Worthman (Bloomington High), Eli Hensley (Normal West), and Charlie Vercruysse (U-High). Team Game 7 18U players attempted to mount a 5th inning comeback but weren’t able to overtake their opponents. Players who scored for Team Game 7 18U were Mitchell Murphy (Normal Community), Mac Conklin, and Matthew Davenport (both U-High).

NORMAL – Week two of Kernels Fall League Baseball action saw local athletes engage in a close game in the first of the two games played at The Corn Crib Friday night while game two ended after coaches mutually agreed to end the game deadlocked at 9-all after seven innings.

Yard Goats Get Past BNBA Hoots, 2-1: The Yard Goats, an 18 and Under team comprised of high school students from Mahomet and Champaign areas defeated BNBA Hoots, 2-1, to open week two of KFL action Friday night. Bloomington High alum Nate Johnson, the Hoots’ leadoff man, singled to start the contest in the first inning. But that was followed by a pair of quick strikeouts delivered by Yard Goats pitcher Hayden Brazelton, a St. Joseph Ogden High product, shutting down Hoots second baseman and Normal West High’s Mason Buzicky and U-High’s Chase Adams for two of the offense’s three quick outs. A double by Bloomington Central Catholic High’s David Broadbear scored Johnson for the only run in the inning putting the Hoots up, 1-0

A double by Brazelton in the bottom of the fourth helped Jesse Worley from St. Joseph Ogden High home to tie the game, 1-1. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley product Hunter Brewer got credit for scoring the winning run. Brazelton claimed the win, while Alex Willey, a Normal Community West High player, took the loss.

Central Illinois 18U Outlaws, 29ers 18U Play To A 9-9 Draw: In the nightcap game, two teams with players primarily from outside central Illinois gave fans plenty of action to see, enough that by mutual agreement, both team coaches agreed to end the game after seven innings, with Central Illinois 18U Outlaws and 29ers 18U playing to a 9-9 tie. The majority of the players on the Outlaws roster were high school players from East Peoria area. The majority of 29ers 18U players were from Chicago with one exception – Patrick Mulcahey who was listed as having played high school ball at Bloomington Central Catholic.