Clinton Lumber Kings

PERU, Ill. — The Clinton LumberKings (7-4) nearly pulled off one of their most thrilling comebacks in recent memory Saturday night, rallying from an 8-0 deficit to force extra innings before falling 9-8 in 11 innings to the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp (4-5) at Schweickert Stadium.

The Shrimp came out swinging, jumping on Clinton starter Jackson Bruno with five runs in the first inning. James Love's RBI single opened the scoring, followed by an RBI single from AJ Weller. Moments later, Amir Gray launched a three-run homer to dead center to give Illinois Valley a quick 5-0 lead.

In the third, the Pistol Shrimp added three more runs. Nick Weaver's RBI single made it 6-0, and Draven Nushida's two-run single extended the advantage to 8-0.

But the resilient LumberKings refused to go away. In the 6th, Max Burt reached on an error to score Sam Wiese and put Clinton on the board. Brayden Mulkey followed with a two-run single to left, plating Drew Terpins and Burt. Schimmel capped the four-run frame by reaching on another Illinois Valley miscue, bringing home Danny Gavin to cut the gap to 8-4.

Clinton kept chipping away. In the 7th, Hagen singled to center to score Wiese, making it 8-5. The Kings inched closer in the 8th when Hackett delivered an RBI single to plate Wiese again, pulling Clinton within 8-6.

Down to their final three outs in the 9th, the LumberKings completed the comeback, scoring the two runs necessary to tie the game with two outs and in two-strike counts. Rasmussen ripped an RBI single to left to score Gavin, and Schimmel scored the tying run after Wiese reached on an error, knotting the game 8-8 and sending it to extras.

Schimmel paced the offense, going 3-for-7 with an RBI and a run scored. Wiese reached base six times and scored three runs, while Mulkey drove in two. Burt, Rasmussen, Hackett, and Hagen also added RBI during the comeback bid.

However, in the 11th, Illinois Valley broke through. With the bases loaded and nobody out, a balk was called on Bormann, allowing Aamir Mitchell to cross the plate with the walk-off run.

Clinton's bullpen was superb in relief. Eli Green, Ethan Dorka, Jake Weissenberger, and Cole Bormann (0-1) combined for seven scoreless innings, nine strikeouts and two hits, giving the offense time to rally.

The Pistol Shrimp's starter Josh Katz, tossed four shutout innings with five strikeouts. Tyler Deleskiewicz, Andrew Ressler, Jared Rodriguez, Caleb Okada, and Izzaq Zrust combined to cover the final seven frames, with Zrust (1-0) earning the win after two scoreless innings in extras.

Clinton outhit the Pistol Shrimp 10-9 and drew 14 walks, but stranded 17 runners in the 3-hour, 35-minute marathon.

Despite the loss, the LumberKings remain atop the Great River Division and share first place with the Burlington Bees with a 7-4 record. The LumberKings return to action at NelsonCorp Field on Tuesday after a successful 4-2 record on the week-long road trip. Clinton will play the Normal CornBelters for the first time this season on Tuesday, with first pitch set at 6:30 p.m. Fans can watch the game on prospectleaguenetwork.com, listen for FREE on wcciradio.com or tune in at 100.4 WCCI-FM.