SCHAUMBURG, IL — Alec Craig homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth inning as the Schaumburg Boomers upended the Windy City ThunderBolts 5-3 to claim a win in the home opener at Wintrust Field on Friday night.

Schaumburg wasted no time in jumping ahead in front of the home crowd for the first time this season. Chase Dawson led off the game with a single, stole second, moved to third on a single from Miles Simington and crossed the plate on a Gaige Howard groundout. The lead reached 2-0 in the fourth on an RBI double from Craig.

Windy City tied the game in the fifth with a two-run homer from Junior Martina but the Boomers regained the lead with an unearned run in the bottom. Windy City again tied the game in the eighth with a two-out RBI single from Jake Boone but Craig delivered the swing to decide the game and Simington tallied his third hit of the game to drive home an insurance run in the bottom of the inning.

Kristian Scott picked up the win in relief, working tow innings and striking out four. Starter Miguel Reyes worked five innings and allowed two runs on just one hit, the fifth inning homer. Reyes faced the minimum through the first four innings of the contest. Jake Joyce closed the door for his second save of the season, punctuating the home opening win with a strikeout, the 10th of the game by the pitching staff.

The offense totaled a season high 12 hits led by the three from Simington. Dawson, Craig and Blake Grant-Parks all posted multiple hits in the victory, the fourth of the year for the Boomers and the third against Windy City.

The home schedule is just underway and the Boomers have an eight-game homestand to open the year. The brief series with Windy City concludes tomorrow night at 6:00pm with RHP Jackson Hickert (0-0, 0.00) making his first professional start against LHP Adrien Reese (0-0, 0.00). The fun at Wintrust Field continues with another round of postgame fireworks and a 2023 magnet schedule giveaway presented by State Farm: Anthony DeGrado Agency. Tickets are available by visiting boomersbaseball.com or calling 847-461-3695.