The Battle Creek Bombers erased an 11-run deficit to storm past the Kenosha Kingfish 13-12 in 11 innings. Josh Sheck was the eventual hero for Battle Creek with a walk-off single to complete the resurgence.
Kenosha quickly touched up Battle Creek starter Keith Carpenter early in the game. Two runs in the second inning, four runs in the third, and five in the fourth gave the Kingfish an 11-0 lead. Shortstop Jake Cosgrove led the way with four RBI, including a bases-clearing triple in the fourth inning. Carpenter was chased from the game after four innings, allowing 11 runs on 13 hits.
Kingfish starter Anderson Strunk started strong, but ran into trouble in the later stages of the game. Two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, courtesy of RBI singles from Michael Morrisette and Kolby Johnson, brought Battle Creek a bit closer. However, it was the seventh inning that saw the game transform from a blowout to a thriller. The Bombers sent 11 batters to the plate, facing three different Kenosha pitchers, as Battle Creek scored seven runs in the frame. Johnson reached first twice in the inning, and multi-RBI knocks from John Malcom and Sheck brought the Bombers within striking range, making the score 11-9.
The eight inning progressed without incident, setting up a decisive ninth inning. Tanner Fallon remained on the mound for Kenosha, as Jorge Gutierrez led the frame off with a single. A base hit from Morrissette, followed by RBI singles from Kelby Weyler and Trace Peterson, tied up the game and sent the contest to extra innings.
In the tenth inning, Luke Stephenson singled home a run to give Kenosha the lead yet again, but a sacrifice fly from Malcom equalized in the bottom half of the frame. The Kingfish couldn’t hold serve in the top of the 11th inning, coming up empty despite starting with a runner at second base due to Northwoods League extra-inning rules. In the bottom of the 11th, Sheck ripped a comebacker off of new pitcher Jon-Anthony Caban’s glove and into left field, scoring Gabe Sotres and giving Battle Creek their largest comeback win of the season.
Battle Creek hosts Kenosha on Tuesday morning for an 11:05 a.m. contest to finish off the two-game series.
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.
