Kalamazoo, MI – Despite the Battle Creek Battle Jacks leading the game for seven straight innings, the Kalamazoo Growlers’ five-run eighth inning propelled them to an I-94 Rivalry game victory.
In terms of offense, the Battle Jacks found some success offensively in both the first inning and the sixth inning. Battle Creek, donning their blue uniforms for the first time this year, took the lead right out of the gate. Dave Alleva (West Chester U) capped off a streak of four straight singles by the Battle Jacks when he drove in Brock Daniels (U of Missouri), putting the Jacks ahead by a run. Five innings later, Battle Creek’s Josh Robinson (Davenport U) hammered a home run to right field, doubling the Battle Jack’s advantage.
In terms of defense, the Jacks saw a good start from Blaine Wynk (U of Findlay) who pitched four and two-thirds scoreless innings with five strikeouts. In addition, Dylan Howanitz (West Chester U) had the best performance among the bullpen pitchers with two scoreless innings pitched and a trio of strikeouts. Lastly, Battle Creek also forced a pair of double plays and retired the Growlers’ side with runners in scoring position multiple times.
Although the Battle Jacks outhit the Growlers 8-6 and led for a majority of the game, all the Growlers needed to win was one big inning. In front of 3910 fans, Kalamazoo turned up the dial in the bottom of the eighth inning with five runs coming across, creating a margin the Battle Creek could not overcome.
With this loss, the Battle Jacks (1-2) have now dropped three games straight in the I-94 series. They will look to end that losing streak to Kalamazoo on Thursday.
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The Battle Creek Battle Jacks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th 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 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.battlejacksbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set Battle Creek as your favorite team.
