KENOSHA, Wis. – The Kenosha Kingfish (17-9) held off a late rally by the Wisconsin Woodchucks (9-16) and earned the sweep with a 4-3 win on Saturday at Historic Simmons Field. The win is the Kingfish’s fourth straight, matching a season-best win streak.
The Kingfish couldn’t have gotten off to a hotter start in this one, as each of their first four hitters of the game reached base against Woodchucks starter D.J. Moreland (Seminole State). Center fielder Connor Doyle (University of San Diego) began things with a walk, followed by singles by left fielder Chris Botsoe (Iowa Central CC) and right fielder Jack Yalowitz (Illinois) to load the bases with no outs.
Designated hitter Derek Bangert (Bradley) immediately drove in two runs with a single, with first baseman Max Widmar (UW-Parkside) sending home a third run via sacrifice fly two batters later to make it 3-0.
After that, the game was in right-handed Kingfish starter Quinn Snarskis’ (St. Joseph’s) hands, and he spent most of that time in complete control. Snarskis held Wisconsin scoreless through the first six innings on Saturday, extending his scoreless innings streak to 18 at the time.
Like Friday night, however, the seventh inning was a different story. The Woodchucks began the frame with a single and a triple to score the game’s first run, and scored a second time on a sacrifice fly. Right-hander Cole Erickson (UW-Stevens Point) took over to obtain the third out, but surrendered the tying run in the next inning when left fielder Stevie Mangrum launched his tenth homer of the season to center field and made it a 3-3 game.
Kenosha finally stopped a scoring drought in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to a one-out triple by Yalowitz and subsequent RBI single by Bangert that put it back on time. Right-hander Billy McKay (Florida) pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn the save.
Snarskis finished with 6.2 innings pitched and two runs allowed, both earned, on eight hits, no walks and four strikeouts. Erickson was the winning pitcher with 1.1 innings pitched and one run allowed.
Yalowitz and Bangert each finished 2-for-4, with Bangert driving in three runs. Shortstop Ben Troike (Illinois), meanwhile, finished 2-for-3 with a double.
The Kingfish will go on the road on Sunday to start a two-game set against Fond du Lac. Fond du Lac will then follow Kenosha back to Historic Simmons Field on Monday for a 7:05p.m. start time, when the Kingfish host Delton Grand Wisconsin Dells Night.
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The Kenosha Kingfish are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.kingfishbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Kingfish as your favorite team.
