The Battle Creek Bombers fell for the first time in four games in a 6-2 defeat to the Kalamazoo Growlers at C.O. Brown Stadium Tuesday night.
Battle Creek struck first, as Roy Thurman drove in Kelby Weyler with a sacrifice fly. It was the second time in two games that the Bombers had scored in the first inning. Battle Creek added a bit of insurance in the second inning, leading off the inning with back-to-back singles from Bomber newcomer Steven Kokowski and Kolby Johnson. Third baseman Jack Merrifield then grounded into a fielder’s choice, plating Kokowski in his first game for Battle Creek.
The 2-0 lead was handed off to Bomber starter Lyle Hibbits, who spun six innings for the second time this season. Kalamazoo climbed back into the game in the top half of the third inning when Gabe Rivera singled home Brooks Coetzee to cut the deficit in half. Hibbits then responded with three straight scoreless innings, before being pulled in the top of the seventh. That was the most problematic inning for Battle Creek, as Kalamazoo plated four runs to take the lead 5-2. A Miko Rodriguez double, Rivera sacrifice fly, and Dakota Kotowski double led the charge for the Growlers. Ping-Chun Ho gave up the most runs in an outing from him this season, as he was charged for three of the four runs that Kalamazoo scored in the inning.
Rivera added one more run in the top of the eighth inning with an RBI single, and the lead would hold at 6-2. Max Bain was fantastic in relief for Kalamazoo starter Brayden Nelson, tossing three innings while allowing just three hits and two walks without surrendering a run.
A Kokomo Jackrabbits loss to Traverse City catapulted the Growlers into sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes East division, as they improve to 9-6. The Bombers loss drops their record to 6-9, sitting three games back of first place. The two teams will meet again at C.O. Brown Stadium for a doubleheader on Wednesday, starting at 1:05.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Currently in its’ 26th 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 200 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
