By Sedric Granger

Kokomo, IN – The Kokomo Jackrabbits (15-26) erased a five-run deficit to beat the Battle Creek Battle Jacks (15-26), 9-6. 

At the beginning of the game, Battle Creek was rolling. In the top of the 1st inning, Brock Daniels (University of Missouri) drove in Blake McRae (Eastern Michigan University) on a sacrifice fly, putting the Blue and White on the board early. A few moments later, Kyle Ratliff (SIUE) doubled to center field, driving in both Blake Salamon (Northwood University) and Jake Allgeyer (Western Illinois). Lastly, Anthony Aloisio (Davenport University) delivered an exhilarating triple to right field, scoring Ratliff and Jay Adams (Concordia University). Before Kokomo could even grab the bats, the Battle Jacks were up by a comfortable margin, 5-0. 

However, Kokomo shifted the momentum throughout the rest of the game. Aside from a Daniels RBI double scoring McRae in the top of the 2nd, the Battle Jacks were held scoreless for the rest of the game. Ironically (considering they are called the Jackrabbits), they used a slow and steady scoring approach to “win the race.” The Rabbits scored two runs, one run, two runs, and two runs throughout their first four innings of the day, taking a lead into the middle part of the game, 7-6. Lastly, Kokomo tacked on a pair of insurance runs late in the game to clinch the five-run comeback.

With this loss, the Battle Jacks fall to 5-2 in the second half of the season. Despite the loss, Battle Creek still won the five-game road series against Kokomo four games to one. The Battle Jacks still remain in first place in the Great Lakes East playoff race by half a game. A huge showdown between the top two teams in the Great Lakes East looms large for Battle Creek as they take the second place Kalamazoo Growlers, their biggest rivals, on Monday.

###

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.