Top Prospect Chourio Leads Wisconsin Past Chiefs

PEORIA, IL - The home run ball was at the forefront of the Timber Rattlers attack once again on Friday night as they earned their third triumph of the week over the Chiefs by a final of 6-1.

For the second night in a row, Timber Rattlers catcher Darrien Miller led off the contest with a no-doubt blast to right field, putting Wisconsin immediately in the driver's seat 1-0. In the second, Peoria struck back, as Tommy Jew chipped a single up the middle to score Mack Chambers and get the Chiefs on the board.

With the score even at one, Peoria hurler WIlfredo Pereira settled in. After a hiccup to open the night, Pereria retired a string of 12 consecutive Timber Rattlers before allowing a free pass in the fifth.

In the sixth, the third time through the Wisconsin order proved to be a tough task. A single and a walk set up Jackson Chourio who delivered more heroics. The 18-year-old outfielder mashed a three-run homer to left to make it 4-1. For Chourio, it was his fourth homer in his last five games. After two more singles, Pereira was chased from the contest with one out in the sixth. The visitors kept the pedal to the metal against Edgar Manzo and brought home two more on a bases loaded walk and a groundout to extend the lead to 6-1 When all said and done, all five runs in the sixth were charged to the Peoria starter.

Wisconsin starter Alexander Cornielle was able to work around some Peoria traffic to finish up six innings of work to pick up his first High-A win in just his second start.

From there, both offenses fizzled out. Peoria did load the sacks with two outs in the eighth in an attempt to storm back down the stretch, but a dribbler back to the mound ended any sort of threat.

With the 6-1 win, Wisconsin has secured at least a split of the series heading into action on Saturday. Zane Mills will throw for the Chiefs while Carlos Rodriguez tosses for Wisconsin. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.