By: Pat Mullen
Battle Creek, Mich. – It was a tough one for the Bombers as they opened up the month of August riding a six game win streak, but five errors blew that opportunity as they lost, 8-4.
Battle Creek fell behind early to the Loggers as they kept plating runs. The lead became 6-4 after Battle Creek cut it to two in the seventh, but La Crosse held on.
“They had some clutch hits when they needed to, but the errors on top of that did not help,” Coach Robinson said in the locker room. “We have to play clean baseball no matter who is out there and play it all nine. We were in it until the end, then you know, a big error right there.”
Rewind to the beginning of the game where Jacob Waguespack (Ole Miss) got the start. Pitch Coach Bill Murphy mentioned he would only go 3-4 innings, and Wags was able to give him four strong.
“I feel like I had good velocity starting out,” the big right-hander said. “I kind of fell behind a few hitters to start the game but I tried to settle in and unfortunately my pitch count was where I had to stop. But I did feel good.”
Waguespack gave up a couple hits in those four innings and one run to go along with four strikeouts. He now sits with a 1.95 ERA, one of the best in the Northwoods League.
Offensively, the Bombers did not do too much at the plate, being held to four total hits.
In the seventh, Battle Creek gave a scare to the Loggers as the La Crosse bullpen could not find the strike zone. Anthony Cheky (Michigan State) and Colby Bortles (Ole Miss) both had RBI base on balls, but it just was not enough to keep the winning streak alive.
The Bombers now head to Waterloo, Iowa tomorrow for some interleague play with the Bucks. Battle Creek split the series with the Bucks at C.O. Brown during the first half of the season and are 3-3 overall in interleague play.
First pitch tomorrow in Waterloo will be 8:05 ET.
Game Notes:
The August 1st game at C.O. Brown marked the final game for a few Bombers members. Henri Lartigue (Ole Miss), Connor Panas (Canisius) and Jordan Grosjean (Central Michigan) will be headed home from southwest Michigan. Henri finish the season batting .281, Connor at .299 and Jordan had a 4.03 ERA. We thank them for their time in Battle Creek and know they are part of the Bombsquad forever!
Jacob Waguespack had possibly his last start for Battle Creek before going back to Ole Miss. He said about it:
“I came in (to the summer) and tried really hard to keep the ball down and throw a lot of strikes. I kind of struggled with that during my school season, so it was key. Working with Murph and all the guys around me here, it was a really good team and organization. So I am really blessed and fortunate, but I can say I worked on a lot of stuff and got better and that is all you can really ask for.”
Jacob Waguespack: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (season ERA 1.95)
Logan Spurlin (Northern Kentucky): 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI
