By Sedric Granger
Traverse City, MI – The Battle Creek Battle Jacks (23-37, 13-13) lost game two of the series to the Traverse City Pit Spitters (34-26, 12-13), 8-2, splitting the two-game road series.
Although the Battle Jacks outhit the Pit Spitters five to two, the various miscues hampered Battle Creek’s chance for victory. The Blue and White registered five wild pitches, had seven hit-by-pitches, walked four batters, committed two fielding errors, and yielded six stolen bases including one at home plate. These mistakes allowed Traverse City to score a total of six runs in the span of two innings despite the fact the Pit Spitters had zero base hits.
Even though the miscues were the story of the game, the Battle Jacks made a couple of big plays on offense. Jake Allgeyer (Southern Illinois) drove in Riley Silva (Nebraska) on a fielder’s choice to get the Battle Jacks on the board in the 3rd inning. In addition, Kyle Ratliff (SIUE) hit a sacrifice fly in the 8th inning to score Allgeyer.
Another moment that would put a smile on a fan’s face was when Brock Daniels (Missouri) drilled a ground rule double in the 8th inning. This was Daniels’ last plate appearance of his last game as a Battle Jack in 2023. At many points in the season, he ignited the MCCU crowd by doing his signature “twist it” celebration. For one last time wearing the Blue and White, Daniels once again did his favorite celebration after closing out his season with a double.
Despite the game two loss, the Battle Jacks did well to steal one win against Traverse City on the road. Battle Creek returns home to take on the Kalamazoo Growlers in an I-94 Rivalry Showdown on Monday.
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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.
