It would be hard to blame Windy City’s Danny Jimenez for carrying some nerves onto the mound Tuesday against Schaumburg.
Not only was it Jimenez’ first start of the year, but the 25-year-old southpaw played the previous two seasons with the opposition, helping Schaumburg pick up back-to-back Frontier League titles as the first team to repeat as league champions since Windy City accomplished the feat in 2008.
Somehow, Jimenez managed to keep his emotions in check.
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“I just had a game plan and I stuck to it,” Jimenez said. “There really wasn’t any nerves. I was ready to go and wanted to prove (myself).
“I think I had a little advantage knowing those guys, for sure. Five out of those nine guys I played with, so I got a feeling for what they like and what they don’t like. I tried to pitch to their flaws.”
Jimenez found the soft spots in the strike zone. He went six innings and allowed one earned run, but went home happy despite a no-decision as Zach Esquerra blasted a walk-off, three-run homer to lift Windy City to an 8-6 victory on a wild and chilly night at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood.
“It was unreal,” Jimenez said. “I couldn’t sit down in the dugout. It’s awesome to be on this new team.”
Esquerra’s homer to left field closed out a furious end to the game. Windy City (3-1) trailed 4-2 in the seventh before a three-run eighth gave the T-Bolt a 5-4 lead.
Schaumburg (3-2) responded by earning back-to-back walks to start the ninth and Justin Vasquez knocked in Craig Massey with a single to tie the action at 5. Mark Nelson followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Mike Schulze, as Schaumburg stormed back for a 6-5 lead.
But Esquerra’s walk-off homer knocked in Coco Johnson (3-for-4, two runs) and Mike Torres (1-for-3). The ball was clearly out of the park on contact.
“I’m so excited for this,” said a still out-of-breath Esquerra. “We just competed. Our team did a phenomenal job of working back with some good at-bats.”
Meanwhile, Jimenez allowed four hits while striking out six. He said he’s hoping to provide depth and stability to Windy City’s rotation, which has looked strong through the first week of the season.
“We’ve got a great rotation,” Jimenez said. “We have a guy going out every night that can go the distance and get the job done.”
Windy City’s Jake Fisher was recently named Frontier League’s pitcher of the week after throwing his first complete-game shutout on Friday. The T-Bolts’ starters have allowed just three earned runs through four games.
Windy City’s defense had not committed an error all season but was tagged with two against Schaumburg. The T-Bolts allowed an unearned run in the fifth. Windy City’s defense struggled last season, ranking 13th in the Frontier League with a .968 fielding percentage.
Windy City and Schaumburg will pick up where they left off less than a half-day later. Windy City hosts the Boomers at 10:35 a.m. Wednesday.
Malloy is a freelance writer.