Green Bay, Wis.—The 2014 Northwoods League season started off with a bang for the Battle Creek Bombers last night. At Joannes Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the Bombers faced off against the Bullfrogs in a game that went down to the wire.

Austen Thrailkill (Embry Riddle) was the opening night starter for Battle Creek, he found himself in trouble in counts early and often. Thrailkill showed incredible resilience, however, and was able to get out of such jams on a regular basis. He would hit his pitch limit after going four strong innings, giving up zero runs with collecting four strikeouts.

The Bomber offense was able to get going in the top of the second thanks to some beautiful two out approaches. David Richards, IV (Savannah State) had a clutch two out single up the middle to score Jacob Bosiokovic (Ohio State), followed by a two run RBI from Brandon Van Horn (Dallas Baptist).

The runs did not stop there, however. The three hitter, Sam Koenig (Wisconsin-Milwaukee), stepped in and hit a deep bomb over the left field fence to give the Bombers a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.

Battle Creek ran into some trouble in the bottom half of the fifth as walks from relief pitchers and an error plagued the visitors. The Green Bay Bullfrogs strung together their own set of five runs to tie the game up heading into the 6^th inning.

Luckily for Nick Hellman (Golden West College) and his reliever Josh Jimenez (Joliet JC), the offense continued in the sixth thanks to a familiar face. Leadoff man Richards IV had another huge two out hit, this time a double, scoring two runs as the ball rolled to the left center fence.

After stealing third base, Richards IV was able to score on a throwing error by the catcher to bring the Bombers’ lead to 8-5.

The Bombers were fortunate to have great relief work from Jimenez. The left hander was able to put together a solid four innings of relief, with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Jimenez did get in some trouble in the 9^th inning, leaving a runner on second and two outs with a one run game.

That is when Manager Dan Trivett called in their closer for the season, freshman Andrew Mitchell (LSU) to shut the door.

Mitchell made it interesting with back-to-back walks, but was able to get a groundout to second base to end the game, giving the Bombers their first win of the 2014 season.

The Bombers look for another win tonight in Green Bay before heading back to Battle Creek tomorrow, May 29^th, for Opening Day against cross-town rival, the Kalamazoo Growlers at C.O. Brown Stadium. First pitch is 7:05 P.M. ET. There is still time to purchase your tickets! Call our office at 269) 962- 0735 and ask for Austin, Kali or David! 

Winning Pitcher: Josh Jimenez (1-0)

Save: Andrew Mitchell (1) 

The Battle Creek Bombers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). For more information, visit www.battlecreekbombers.com