The Battle Creek Bombers and Rockford Rivets each picked up a win Tuesday night in an unorthodox doubleheader at C.O. Brown Stadium.
The Bombers and Rivets began by picking up a game in the fourth inning that was suspended by rain on June 15. The game entered the frame scoreless, and Battle Creek and Rockford both quickly engaged their offenses in the 5th inning. A Tom Josten RBI single put Rockford in the lead in the fifth, but that was quickly equaled by a Josh Sears RBI double in the bottom half of the inning. Battle Creek then took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning via a single from catcher Rhett McCall, but Rockford was able to answer.
The Rivets scored three runs in the top half of the eighth inning, chasing Bombers pitcher Walter Talcott from the game to bring in Burrell Jones. Jones gave up a 2-RBI single from Aaron Mann to punctuate the inning, as all three runs allowed in the frame were credited to Talcott. Rockford added five more runs in the top half of the ninth inning off of Mitchell Lee to score eight unanswered runs and win 9-2.
Game Two began shortly after the final pitch of the first game and was scheduled for only seven innings. Rockford once again got out to a lead, as Nolan Snyder drove in his first run of the season on a double in the second inning. Battle Creek was able to equalize the game off of a wild pitch from starter Jimmy Burnette to score Michael Morrissette in the bottom of the third. Battle Creek received a strong start from Calvin Starnes, who went 5.1 innings while giving up one run on four hits. Starnes also walked only two batters, his fewest free passes allowed this season. Battle Creek climbed in front in the bottom of the fifth, as a Kolby Johnson RBI double and Sears sacrifice fly gave the Bombers a 3-1 lead. Rockford threatened in the final frame, loading the bases with two outs for Josh Dudden. Beaux Bonvillain was called in to face Dudden, and struck out the third baseman on three pitches, handing the Bombers a 3-1 win.
The two teams will meet again on Wednesday night at 7:05 at C.O. Brown Stadium.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Currently in its’ 26th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
