The Battle Creek Bombers and Traverse City Pit Spitters only played five and a half innings before their game was suspended due to a light failure. The game will resume on Sunday as part of a doubleheader.
The game was suspended in the bottom of the sixth inning as umpires and coaching staff noticed a series of lights go out around C.O. Brown Stadium. At the time, Traverse City led 5-3.
Battle Creek got out to an early lead off of Traverse City starter Austin Shea. Leadoff hitter Kelby Weyler started the bottom of the first inning with a double. Weyler then stole third and scored on an RBI single from Trace Peterson. Battle Creek then put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the third inning. RBI singles from Josh Sears and Jack Merrifield plated two more runs to give the Bombers a 3-0 lead.
Battle Creek starter Walter Talcott navigated the first three innings scoreless but ran into trouble in the fourth inning. Four Traverse City hits, including a double from shortstop Chris Faust, brought the Pit Spitters within one. Talcott escaped the inning without any further damage by striking out Drake Titus with the bases loaded.
Traverse City took the lead in the fifth inning, though, as Talcott was unable to record an out before being taken out of the game. Catcher Ryan Hampe drove in two runs with an RBI single after the Pit Spitters had already tied the game. As the game moved to the bottom of the fifth, the Pit Spitters led 5-3.
The next full inning went by without event, but as Traverse City manager Josh Rebandt turned to his bullpen in the sixth inning, the light failure occurred. The game was delayed for over an hour as team officials attempted to remedy the problem before the game was suspended.
Battle Creek and Traverse City will meet on Sunday to finish Saturday’s game and play a seven-inning game in what will be the final matchup between the two squads this season.
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.
