Matt Sanders, Bombers Broadcaster

The Battle Creek Bombers fell 7-3 to the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters Tuesday night at Witter Field, being eliminated from the playoffs.

The Bombers took the early lead. With two outs in the first inning, first baseman Nick Podkul reached on a walk, and center fielder Dean Miller hit a homerun over the left field wall to give Battle Creek the 2-0 lead.

The Rafters went on to score two runs in the second and one in the third to take the 3-2 lead.

With the Bombers down by one in the fourth, left fielder Daniel Jipping reached on a one-out walk. Shortstop Storm Joop followed by hitting a single, which advanced Jipping to third. Second baseman Cody Sporrer then grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Jipping scored on the play to make it a 3-3 tie.

The Rafter retook the lead in the bottom of the frame, and added one run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to take a 7-3 lead, which would be the final score of the game.

Nigel Ward took the loss for the Bombers. He allowed five runs on nine hits. He walked one batter, hit one batter and struck out two batters. Krystien Johnson-Battilana relieved Ward, and threw 3.2 innings of two-run baseball. He walked two batters and struck out one. Jonathan Cheshire came on to record the final out by striking out Rob Calabrese.

The Bombers finish the season with a record of 40-34, their second best season in the team’s ten-year history.