Battle Creek, Mich. – What seemed like a normal day at C.O. Brown Stadium turned into one of the more historical nights in organization history, as the Battle Creek Bombers (23-15, 3-0) pitching staff combined for a no-hitter on the Madison Mallards (19-19, 0-3). Battle Creek won their third game in a row, and third of the second half 3-0.
Jared Middleton (University of West Florida) retired the Mallards easily to start, throwing just five pitches in the first inning. Middleton got some help early from the offense, who scored two runs to get on top first. Nikola Vasic (Southern Illinois) and Alex Howard (Arkansas State) singled to begin the first innings for Battle Creek. Nick Walker (Austin Peay) followed it up with an RBI single himself to make it a 1-0 Bombers lead. With Howard on third, Aaron Antonini (Middle Tennessee State) grounded into double play up the middle but it allowed Howard to score to make it 2-0.
The next Battle Creek run came in the third, when Walker walked with two outs. Walker stole second base, but Antonini walked anyways. With runners on second and third for Battle Creek, Tom Stoffel (Virginia Tech) singled to score Walker and extended Battle Creek’s lead to 3-0.
Middleton cruised until the seventh. He finished his night with a game-high 10 strikeouts and walked three batters. Middleton didn’t face any pressure until the seventh, when he walked the leadoff Mallard. The next batter grounded to second base which was bobbled and ruled an error. With runners on first and second, a double play ball was hit to Howard at short, but Vasic didn’t have a play at first. With runners on the corners, Middleton struck out his tenth and final batter to end the inning.
Mark Quinby (UC San Diego) continued his fantastic year on the mound out of the bullpen. After a tremendous play by at third by Alec Trela (University of Memphis), Quinby struck out the final two batters to end the eighth. Colton Bradley (Central Michigan) pitched three outs of history to hand Battle Creek their first combined no-hitter in team history.
The Bombers and Madison will play again Saturday at 7:05 at C.O. Brown Stadium. Battle Creek will look for back-to-back sweeps and their fourth win of the second half. Jake Hromada will have the call on Northwoods League TV and the Bombers Radio Network starting at 6:55
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The Battle Creek Bombers 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 160 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.battlecreekbombers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Bombers as your favorite team.
