By Sedric Granger

Rockford, IL – Behind a solid balance of elite pitching and good offense, the Rockford Rivets stifled the Battle Creek Battle Jacks, 7-1, to sweep the series. This is the first time that the Battle Jacks have been swept in the last four series. 

It is hard to win on the road in the Northwoods League, and the Battle Jacks are now 3-8 in road games this season. Another point of adversity for Battle Creek in this series was the short turnaround. Every team in the Northwoods League has had to deal with quick game turnarounds, and the night before this game was the Battle Jacks’ turn. Since the team did not get back to their hotel until 11 p.m., the Battle Jacks had to make a decision on whether to focus on rest and recovery or arriving at the 11:05 a.m. game early enough for the allotted batting practice time. 

“The grind of the league, playing every day, and the long road trips is what we signed up for,” said Field Manager Coach Clark in an interview last week. “These players give up their entire summer, including time with their families.”

When it comes to playing games, there are no days or nights off. As a result, it is key for the Battle Jacks to continue managing the ups and downs of the season, especially when a tough series like this one against the Rivets happened.

Despite the loss, one of the main highlights for the Battle Jacks in this game was another quality start from Jacob Davis (Kalamazoo College). Davis has been excellent ever since he donned the Battle Creek blue and white. In his first start against Kalamazoo, Davis got the win, yielding only one earned run and five hits in a Battle Jacks season high seven and a third innings pitched in his first start against Kalamazoo. Davis followed it up in this game with only three earned runs given up, three strikeouts, and only one walk in six and a third innings pitched. The pitcher out of Kalamazoo College is averaging six and two thirds innings pitched and only two earned runs given up per start, which are both impressive numbers. After having 15 walks as a team in game one of the series, Battle Creek’s pitching staff showed great improvement in finding the strike zone in game two thanks to Davis and Alex Jarrell (Middle Georgia State), who combined to walk only four batters. 

Offensively, Brock Daniels (Missouri) continued to excel. On a day where the Battle Jacks struck out nine times, Brock Daniels finished two-for-three at the plate with an RBI and a stolen base. Daniels put the Blue and White on the board in the 9th inning on an RBI single scoring Charlie Rhee (San Diego State) to prevent the shut out, showcasing a strong will to fight until the 27th out. 

With this loss, the Battle Jacks (7-14) are now 1-5 on the season against the Rockford Rivets. They will start a four game against the Kenosha Kingfish on Wednesday.

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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.