KENOSHA, Wis. – The Kenosha Kingfish (27-17) defeated the Kalamazoo Growlers (14-30) to complete a four-game sweep on Thursday, with a final score of 7-1. The four-game win streak matches a season high for the Kingfish, and moves their second half record above the .500 mark for the first time in 2017.
After using a busy eighth inning to score seven runs in their win on Thursday, Kenosha got right back on the offensive early in Friday’s contest. Center fielder Connor Doyle (University of San Diego) touched home first in the first inning after he walked, stole second and advanced to third on a single by second baseman Mike Madej (Purdue) before scoring when the Growlers’ catcher made an errant throw attempting to throw out Madej at second base.
The Kingfish continued their assault in the second inning, starting the inning off with four consecutive singles and a walk. All four batters who singled in the inning would come around to score, thanks in part to three wild pitches in the inning.
That big scoring frenzy was really all Kenosha needed in this one, as the trio of left-handed starter Zach Stromberg (Boston College), right-hander Cole Erickson (UW-Stevens Point) and left-hander Ben Lynam (Parkland CC) shut down the Growlers’ bats for the entirety of the game. After scoring 11 runs on Thursday, Kalamazoo couldn’t muster more than one on Friday.
The Kingfish continued to pour on runs in the middle innings, adding another run via wild pitch in the fourth inning and one more with an RBI double by outfielder Austin Bodrato (Florida).
Stromberg earned the win, pitching 5.1 innings and allowing just one run on six hits, striking out five and walking one.
Doyle finished the game 2-for-4 with three runs scored, while designated hitter Jesse Wilkening (Nebraska) went 2-for-5 and left fielder Coll Stanley (Texas A&M) went 2-for-4. First baseman Derek Bangert (Bradley) had an 11-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 night, but still walked twice to extend his on-base streak to 41 games.
The Kingfish host Madison on Saturday for their final home game heading into the All-Star break, with first pitch set for 6:35p.m. and CCB Technology fireworks to follow.
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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.
