The Joliet Slammers and Windy City ThunderBolts have been going in different directions lately in the Frontier League.
The Slammers, the East Division leader, haven’t lost a series in a month. A losing streak helped drop the T-Bolts into second place.
“We’re just trying to continue to win series,” Joliet manager Jeff Isom said. “Our guys are having fun. Starting the season, there was some chemistry I saw with this team. I thought, ‘I hope we can start winning.’ And that’s happening.”
The good vibes continued for the Slammers in Friday night’s series opener with a 1-0 win over the ThunderBolts in front of 2,650 fans at Silver Cross Field.
Slammers right-hander Shane Bryant (2-1) allowed no runs and five hits over seven innings. Kevin Simmons got the final two outs for the save.
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“The big emphasis was just getting ahead of hitters,” Bryant said. “In the past two outings, I didn’t have a lot of strikes. I was kind of just getting by. I worked really hard this week on getting ahead with that first pitch.
“It’s good for the series, but it’s also good to pull out these 1-0 games. It’s even better getting it against a division contender.”
To keep the division lead, the Slammers (26-17) will need contributions from more players after two players signed this week with major league organizations: right fielder Boo Vazquez with the Kansas City Royals and pitcher Liam O’Sullivan with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“We told them we’d put them in an environment where they could showcase their ability and those two guys have,” Isom said. “I tell guys they have to separate themselves from the rest of the league. Vazquez did that, and the same with Liam O’Sullivan.”
The T-Bolts (22-21) have lost seven in a row. They had won five of six against the Slammers before Friday, all at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood.
“That’s when they weren’t playing well,” T-Bolts manager Ron Biga said of the Slammers. “They’re playing well now.”
Biga wasn’t around long Friday night. He was tossed by umpire Brent Rice in the third inning when Biga disputed a tag at the plate.
Blair Beck tried to score from second on a single to center by Tim Zier, but catcher Casey Fletcher took the throw from Charlie White and reached back to tag Beck. Biga raced from the third-base box to argue with Rice, and was thrown out of the game within a few seconds.
The run would have tied the game 1-1. The Slammers went ahead 1-0 in the second inning on an RBI grounder by Hunter Ridge. Jake Gronsky and Fletcher singled ahead of Ridge.
The middle game of the series is at 6:05 p.m. Saturday. The finale starts at 1:05 p.m. Sunday, both at Silver Cross Field.
The top four teams in the East Division are tightly bunched. The Washington Wild Things and Schaumburg Boomers were tied for third place going into Friday’s games, only a half-game behind Windy City.
“We’ve had two good runs, and this was our first real extended losing streak,” Biga said. “Some of it, teams have played well. Some of it has been caused by ourselves.
“We generally play really good defense, but lately we’ve made some bad errors that cost us, just very uncharacteristic. You’ve just got to bounce back and go to work.”
Tim Tierney is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.