Quad Cities maintains first place in the Western Division with a 10-3 record

PEORIA, Ill. (April 21, 2015) - With one out in the eighth inning of a game in which neither team had more than a one-run lead Tuesday night, Quad Cities River Bandits first baseman Jamie Ritchie hit a game-tying triple, and center fielder Derek Fisher hit a go-ahead single that proved to be the deciding run in a 4-3 win over the Peoria Chiefs at Dozer Park.

Beginning its second series in 15 days in Peoria, Quad Cities (10-3) won its fifth straight series opener to begin the season. The club continued its best start in five years to maintain first place in the Midwest League Western Division standings by one game over Cedar Rapids (9-4) and two over Peoria (8-5) and Burlington (8-5).

The River Bandits opened the scoring in the top of the second inning against Chiefs right-hander Luis Perdomo. Designated hitter Sean McMullen placed a bunt on the third-base side, and Perdomo overthrew first base, allowing McMullen to reach second base. Catcher Alfredo Gonzalez then singled to right field to score McMullen, before Perdomo struck out the next three batters to end the inning.

Peoria answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning against River Bandits left-hander Bryan Radziewski. Right fielder Collin Radack singled to right field and scored on a two-out triple to right-center field by catcher Luis Cruz. The Chiefs later took their first lead in the third inning, when third baseman Danny Diekroeger doubled down the left-field line with two outs and scored on designated hitter Nick Thompson's RBI single. Radziewski then worked around singles in the fourth and fifth innings to complete a career-high five innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

The River Bandits tied the game in the fourth inning against Perdomo. With one out, right fielder Ryan Bottger singled to right field, second baseman Kristian Trompiz singled to left field, and shortstop Thomas Lindauer walked to load the bases. Perdomo struck out left fielder Bobby Boyd but then walked Ritchie to force in the tying run. Perdomo then got Fisher to fly out to end the inning. It was the first of three times Quad Cities left the bases loaded on a night when the team left a season-high 15 runners on base.

Perdomo lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs - one earned - on six hits and two walks with a career-high 10 strikeouts. Right-hander Blake McKnight followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings, working around one hit and two walks.

River Bandits right-hander Eric Peterson (1-0) began the bottom of the sixth inning in a 2-2 tie. Thompson hit a leadoff single to left field, and first baseman Alex DeLeon hit a one-out single to left field. Cruz then blooped a single over Trompiz into  shallow center field, from where Fisher tried to throw out Thompson at third base. But the throw went past third baseman Nick Tanielu to foul territory, causing Thompson to run toward home plate. Tanielu threw to catcher Alfredo Gonzalez, but Thompson scored the go-ahead run for a 3-2 Peoria lead. Peterson retired the next five batters to complete two innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits with two strikeouts.

The pivotal eighth inning came against Chiefs right-hander Zach Loraine (0-2), who started his outing by getting Lindauer to open the inning with a popout. Boyd then drove a double off the right-field wall and went to third base on a wild pitch. With the infield in, Ritchie lined his first triple of the season down the first-base line to tie the game. With the infield in again, Fisher grounded a 3-2 pitch through the right side of the infield to score Ritchie. Loraine was removed after one-third of an inning, charged with two earned runs on three hits. Right-hander Kyle Grana entered to walk two batters to load the bases before escaping the inning, and he added a scoreless ninth inning.

River Bandits right-hander Jose Montero held the 4-3 lead by retiring all six batters in the eighth and ninth innings for his third save.

The River Bandits continue their series in Peoria at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Dozer Park. Right-hander Joe Musgrove (2-0) is scheduled to face Chiefs left-hander Austin Gomber (1-1), in a matchup of pitchers who had opposite decisions in the teams' April 10 meeting.

UP NEXT: Smart Toyota of the Quad Cities and WLLR present the first Friday Fireworks of the season following the 7 p.m. game Friday at Modern Woodmen Park. It is also Legends of Rock Night for the opener of the six-game, seven-day homestand. Individual tickets are on sale at the River Bandits box office and online at riverbandits.com. Ticket plans of 12 to 70 games - which include free parking, reserved seats, merchandise discounts, and guaranteed giveaways - are available by calling 563-324-3000.

(DES MOINES) - Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today applauded the Iowa House of Representatives for passing House File 641, a bill that aims to connect every acre of Iowa to high-speed broadband Internet. The bill passed 89-5.

"We began calling for broadband legislation last year because our administration understands that if we are to continue to grow jobs and increase incomes we must ensure that ever acre of Iowa is connected with high-speed broadband," said Branstad. "I applaud the Iowa House for passing the broadband Internet bill with strong bipartisan support and look forward to working with the Senate on the measure in the coming weeks."

"It's clear from today's vote that the Iowa House of Representatives shares our view that high-speed broadband will connect agriculture and equipment through rural fiber, schools to online resources and businesses to the global marketplace," said Reynolds. "We appreciate today's vote of confidence from the Iowa House for this innovative proposal."

In January, Gov. Branstad called for the passage of his "Connect Every Acre" broadband bill in the Condition of the State address by stating, "The fabric of our state is woven together by the gravel roads and the interstate system, but in this day and age it also must be connected through access to broadband as well. This legislative session, let's come together and pass legislation allowing rural Iowa to experience continued growth and connection to the rest of Iowa and the rest of the world."

Moline, IL - April 25, 2015 - West Music Quad Cities, in partnership with D'Addario Strings, will offer a free guitar restring and food drive donation event for six-string acoustic and electric guitars at its Moline, Illinois location on Saturday, April 25, 2015.  Participants only need to bring in four canned goods or non-perishable food items or a $5 donation.  Contributions will be donated to Family Resources.   This exciting event will take place during store hours 10am - 5pm on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at West Music Quad Cities, 4305 44th Avenue in Moline.   For more information on this event please contact Kyle Ware, West Music Combo Merchandise Manager, at kware@westmusic.com.

Six-string electric guitars will be restrung with choice of D'Addario EXL110 or EXL120 strings and six-string acoustic guitars will be restrung with choice of D'Addario EJ16 or EJ17 strings.  Customers are limited to a free restring of one of these instruments.

About D'Addario & Company

D'Addario & Company, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets complete lines of strings for fretted and bowed musical instruments, drumheads, drumsticks, drum practice pads, and guitar and woodwind accessories under the proprietary brand names D'Addario, Planet Waves, Rico, Evans Drumheads, Pro-Mark Drumsticks, and PureSound Percussion. The company also runs theLessonroom.com and Guitar.com. D'Addario products are marketed in approximately 120 countries. Connect with D'Addario on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and at daddario.com.

About West Music Company

Founded in 1941, West Music continues to fulfill its mission of creating musical communities by providing knowledge, products, and services people need to experience the power of making music!  West Music specializes in pianos, guitars, drums and percussion, band and orchestra instruments, and print music as well as offers music instruction, repair and music therapy services.  West Music has seven retail locations in Iowa and Illinois as well as award-winning ecommerce websites dedicated to servicing music education, percussion, and Latin music communities. For more information, visit westmusic.com or call 1-800-373-2000.