SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Steve McQuail hit a walk-off homer on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth as the West Division Champion Schaumburg Boomers opened the Frontier League Playoffs with an 8-7 win over the Florence Freedom, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. 

McQuail’s homered cleared the wall in center for his second of the game, handing Daniel DeSimone the loss. Florence had battled back from down 6-2 to tie the contest in the top of the ninth. The first two batters of the inning reached base before Byron Wiley homered to right to tie the game.

The visiting Freedom, who sported a 5-1 record against the Boomers this season, built a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first two frames against Schaumburg starter Chris Phelan. Phelan worked 6.1 innings and allowed three runs, working around early troubles to leave in line for the win. The Boomers grabbed the lead with three second inning runs behind a pair of homers. McQuail, who was named the Star 105.5 Star of the Game for his ninth inning heroics, led off the inning with his first of the night and two batters later Frank Pfister connected on a two-run blast off Florence starter Andy Clark to hand Schaumburg the lead. The Boomers did not hit a pair of homers in an inning all season until today.

Jordan Dean extended the lead to 6-2 with a bases clearing double in the top of the sixth. Florence slowly chipped away at the lead with runs in the seventh and eighth before Alexi Colon scored an insurance run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the frame. Dexter Price ended up as the winner despite blowing the save. McQuail, Gerard Hall, and Brian McConkey posted two hits apiece for the Boomers in the contest. McQuail hit the first walk-off homer in team history earlier this season on May 28 and added the second in the game one decision.

The Boomers (59-37, 1-0) continue the series at home on Sunday night at 5:00 p.m. RHP Shawn Sanford (10-6, 2.97) starts for the Boomers with Florence sending RHP Casey Henn (5-0, 3.67). Playoff tickets are on sale now. The Boomers run through the playoffs is powered by AEP Energy. Reserve your piece of the action by calling 847.461.3695 or visiting www.boomersbaseball.com.