KALAMAZOO, MI., — The Battle Creek Bombers found themselves in a tough spot Tuesday night, in an 11-5 loss to the Kalamazoo Mac Daddies.
The bats were hot, racking up 10 hits on the night, but Battle Creek’s pitching faltered to hand the Bombers their third loss of the season.
The scoring got going early though for the Bombers, with TJ McKenzie scoring on a passed ball in the top of the first, giving the Bombers a 1-0 lead. They continued their strong offensive start in the second, putting up two runs, one coming off of a Tyler Wardwell RBI double.
With a three-run lead going into the home half of the second, starting pitcher Ty Weatherly struggled finding the strike zone. He surrendered four walks, along with a base hit, allowing five runs to cross the plate. After two innings, it was 5-3 Mac Daddies.
The Bombers pulled within one run in the top of the sixth thanks to a Wardwell sacrifice fly, scoring Joe Mason. In the home half of the inning, Kalamazoo retaliated with an RBI single from Gavin Doyle. The Mac Daddies led 6-4.
The game was quiet for a couple innings, until the bottom of the eighth. Thomas Shultz struggled in relief, allowing three runs on 21 pitches, only retiring two Mac Daddies in the inning. Trace Peterson, who started as the designated hitter, got his shot in relief. He allowed two more runs on a Garrett Navarra homerun, totaling five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving Kalamazoo an 11-4 lead.
The last push from the Bombers came off the bat from right fielder Justin Van De Brake, with a solo homer to lead off the away half of the ninth. The Bombers fall to 5-3 on the season, and fall for their second straight game.
They return to action tomorrow, Wednesday, July 15th, at 6:35 p.m. against the Kalamazoo Growlers.
