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Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – The Battle Creek Bombers are South Division champions for the second time in franchise history with their 6-1 victory over the number one seeded Wisconsin Rapids Rafters.
In a matchup that paired the top two teams in the south, it was the number two seeded Battle Creek who got a maximum team effort to upset the league leading Rapids and send them to their second Collegiate Summer World Series.
The offense started early for Battle Creek, and lots of it came from Tom Stoffel (Virginia Tech). Stoffel started the game on the first pitch blasting a solo home run over the right field fence. Later, he would add a two-run blast, as Stoffel ended the night driving in four of the six BC runs.
On the other side of the ball, Battle Creek got an amazing performance from starter Andrew Click (Davenport University). Click would toss 7.0 strong innings allowing only one run on three hits while also striking out six.
Not only would Stoffel step up with the bat, he would also help shut down the game on the rubber. The left-hander threw a scoreless eighth and ninth as he struck out three.
Storm Joop (University of Indianapolis) added to the home run brigade with a solo home run in the fourth. The Bombers added an insurance run in the ninth on an error to cap off the Bombers scoring.
The offense picked up 12 hits on the night, with Alex Howard (Arkansas State) and Nick Walker (Austin Peay State) each having multiple hits.
Nikola Vasic (McHenry County College), Gavin Homer (McHenry County College), Aaron Antonini (Middle Tennessee State University) and Cody Hawken (University of Portland) each picked up hits as well.
The Bombers will have home field advantage in the three-game Summer Collegiate World Series against North Division champion St. Cloud.
Game one of the series is set for tomorrow night at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minn. Game two will be hosted in Battle Creek, with a game three also being played at C.O. Brown Stadium if necessary.
Tune in to the pregame show on the Bombers Radio Network with Jake Hromada and Neil Doyle at 7:55 p.m. ET.
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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 (CWS), 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.
