By Sedric Granger

Traverse City, MI – The Traverse City Pit Spitters (20-11) barely staved off the upset minded Battle Creek Battle Jacks (9-21), 2-1, at Turtle Creek Stadium. 

After losing by seven in game one of the series, Battle Creek got the tying run in scoring position in the top of the 9th. However, Traverse City’s Defense once again came through when it mattered most to beat the Battle Jacks by the same score they did on June 9th. 

The pitching for the Dogs tonight can only be described as bend but do not break. Although Jacob Davis (Kalamazoo College) gave up 10 hits in five innings on the mound, Davis impressively only yielded one earned run. Since Davis excelled at picking up outs when the Pit Spitters were on the verge of scoring, Battle Creek was put in position to pull off the upset. Jake Jekielek (Northwood University) was solid out of the bullpen for the Blue and White. The submarine style pitcher struck out three and yielded only one run in three innings of relief. 

On account of Traverse City being at the top of the league in earned run average throughout the season, they have always presented a tough task for the Battle Jacks offense. Once again, offense was a struggle today for the Battle Jacks. The lone run came on a Spencer Verburg (Central Michigan University) RBI, scoring Blake McRae (Eastern Michigan University) in the 7th inning. Additionally, Blake Salamon (Northwood University) shined at the plate, going two-for-four with a double.

Even though the Dogs have struggled down the stretch, they have one of their most anticipated games still ahead of them. Battle Creek will don their special Doughnut themed uniforms to take on the Kalamazoo Growlers (17-13) at MCCU Field on Friday. 

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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.