By: Pat Mullen

Madison, Wisc. – Today was a new day for Battle Creek as they went on to defeat the Mallards 7-1 in front of a jam-packed crowd.

The Bombers had a great pitching performance from Zac Ryan (Georgia Tech) as he tamed the Madison bats.

“All of his pitches were working today and he was spotting up in the zone,” Coach Robinson said. “I was really pleased with what I saw and I know (coach) Murph is too.”

Zac went seven innings and gave up one run. Besides back-to-back two out hits in the fourth, the Madison bats could not match up with Ryan.

“I got into a good rhythm and was really trusting my stuff, throwing my fastball a lot today,” the right-hander discussed after the game. “I started throwing that in on the hands and was able to jam guys.”

Coach Robinson was also pleased with the productivity of his guys at the plate, including Jordan Hand (Cal State Fullerton), Connor Panas (Canisius) and TJ Hillman (Texas-Arlington).

Hand had been struggling at the plate lately but smoked a 3-0 fastball into center field to break the tie and drive in two runs.

“Yeah I felt like he was going to get a fastball in that situation and his hands are so quick so I wanted to give him a shot,” Coach Rob said. “And good work by him to do the job.”

He also mentioned how Panas’ home run in the ninth inning really put the icing on the cake as the big lefty hitter crushed it over the right field fence.

"The past few weeks I haven't been swing too well," Panas said about the homerun. "But I feel like I've been picking it up lately, and that swing felt nice."

TJ Hillman hit the ball hard a few times but had nothing to show for it until his last at bat. Hillman, who played left field today, had a clutch single up the middle and brought in two runs to add some insurance before the big blast from Panas.

The Bombers go to 2-3 on the season now for the second half of the year. First pitch tomorrow in La Crosse, Wisconsin will be 6:05 ET. They will try to ride this game today and keep the wins rolling.

As Brandon Van Horn says for the season, “we take what’s ours… this is Bomber baseball.”

Game Notes:

Attendance: 6,728

(WP) Zac Ryan (2-0): 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (season ERA 3.60)

(Save, 1) Alden Cartwright: 2 IP, 0 R, 4 K

Connor Panas: 2-4, HR (3), 2 R, 1 BB, 3 RBI

Jordan Hand: 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 RBI

TJ Hillman: 1-4, 1 R, 1 SB, 2 RBI

Bryan Daniello: 3-4, 1 R

 

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 http://www.battlecreekbombers.com”