The Battle Creek Bombers are proud to unveil the roster for the 2020 season. The team features nine returning players to C.O. Brown Stadium, including leading hitters Caleb Balgaard (South Alabama) and Seth Tucker (Hendrix College) who both hit over .300 and combined for 57 hits, 25 RBIs and 35 runs over 41 games. Members of the pitching staff who will come back for a second summer are Burrell Jones (Michigan State University) and Pablo Arevalo (Barry University). Jones recorded three saves over 11 appearances allowing no earned runs and 25 strikeouts to just three walks. Arevalo struck out 39 over 32.0 innings of work and allowed 11 earned runs for a 3.09 ERA.

 

Other returning players include:

 

RHP, Lyle Hibbits, Junior, New Mexico State University (Farmersville, TX)

RHP, Keith Carpenter, Sophomore, University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Walled Lake, MI)

RHP, Mitchell Lee, Junior, Lamar University (Orange, TX)

1B, Michael Morrisette, Junior, Miami University (OH) (Frisco, TX)

OF, Trace Peterson, Junior, Lake Erie College (Brunswick, OH)

 

Another theme with the roster is that second-year Field Manager Mike Ruppenthal pulled from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Mattawan native Josh Swinehart (Western Michigan University) will play third base as well as range in the outfield while Ball State, right-handed pitcher Ty Weatherly will take a spot in the bullpen.

 

Others joining the team from the MAC:

 

RHP, Grant Hartwig, Redshirt-Senior, Miami University (OH) (Plymouth, MI)

SS, Tyler Wardwell, Junior, Miami University (OH) (Cincinnati, OH)

C, Nate Stolze, Junior, Miami University (OH) (Urbandale, IA)

MIF, Bradley Goulet, Redshirt-Junior, University of Akron (Cottage Grove, MN)

3B, Jerry Reinhart, Junior, University of Akron (Batavia, NY)

 

The roster of the roster includes two freshmen from powerhouse Vanderbilt University, (RHP) Thomas Schultz and (SS/OF) TJ McKenzie who both played in four or more games for the Commodores in 2020. Joining fellow Lamar Cardinal, Mitchell Lee is southpaw Christian Grigsby, who held a 1.59 ERA in 2020 and played at Tyler Junior College under Ruppenthal.

 

The rest of the Bombers roster:

RHP, Nolan Lamere, Junior, Clarke University (Harrison Township, MI)

RHP, Ryan Vogt, Sophomore, Southeast Missouri State (Ava, IL)

RHP, Ryan Middendorf, Senior, Lake Erie College (West Chester, OH)

RHP, Evan Ingram, Senior, Hendrix College (Vestavia Hills, AL)

C, Jimmy Wressl, Sophomore, Concordia University-Ann Arbor (Paw Paw, MI)

OF, Justin Van De Brake, Junior, Washington State University (Yakima, WA)

OF, Joe Mason, Senior, University of Mount Olive (Morehead City, NC) 

 

Mike Ruppenthal (Tyler Junior College) will return to lead the Bombers after winning 23 games last summer. New to the team is assistant coach Brian Dyer who spent the last six seasons as the hitting coach for the Kenosha Kingfish. Dyer is the son of Duffy Dyer, who spent 13 years in the MLB and was a member of the 1969 New York Mets World Series Championship team.