By Sedric Granger<\/b><\/p>\n
Battle Creek, MI – Despite a valiant effort by the home team, the Traverse City Pit Spitters used a strong outing by Nick Powers (Michigan State) and clutch pitching down the stretch from Anthony Ramirez (California State University Stanislaus) to stave off the Battle Creek Battle Jacks, 2-1<\/span><\/p>\n After losing to the Pit Spitters, 14-4, last night, the Battle Jacks were determined to get a better result today. Multiple players such as Blake Salamon (Northwood University) and Jake Allgeyer (Western Illinois University) spent the ensuing hours after game one ended to work on the pitching machine to hone their swings.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese guys want to win,\u201d said Field Manager Chris Clark before game two against the Pit Spitters. \u201cThe after hours training was great. It was cool to see the players both having fun under the lights and getting better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Battle Creek, clad in their alternate camouflage uniforms, made game two against Traverse City much closer than the first time around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It all started with the play on the mound. After a game in which the Battle Jacks used seven arms, Battle Creek only had to use four in game two against Traverse City. Kameron Haviland (Benedictine University at Mesa), Kane Elmy (Kellogg Community College), Jacob Spencer (Kellogg Community College), and Jake Jekielek (Northwood University) all combined to strike out 10 Pit Spitters and allow only one earned run. The Dogs hammered the strike zone today, yielding only four walks today after walking 14 batters in game one of the series.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The offense struggled against Traverse City\u2019s elite pitching staff. The Pit Spitters lead the league in Earned Run Average with an impressive ERA of 2.69. Nick Powers got the start for the Cherries and pitched seven scoreless innings with five strikeouts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, once Battle Creek forced Traverse City into their bullpen, they found some success initially. In the 8th inning with the Pit Spitters ahead, 2-0, Fisher Pyatt (Central Arizona College) scorched a RBI double to left field scoring Nikolas Clark (Davenport University) to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n