The Battle Creek Bombers rallied in the 8th with a two run inning but were unable to complete the comeback against the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders on Thursday night. The Bombers fell short to the Dock Spiders 3-2.

Fond Du Lac kicked off the scoring early putting up one run in the first inning. Jack Alexander reached base on an error by Bombers first baseman John Malcom and was eventually moved to third where he scored off a wild pitch. The Bombers also had two hits in the first but were unable to capitalize.

The middle of the game turned into a pitchers duel with Lyle Hibbits putting out 16 of 20 batters and giving up just one run between the 2nd and 7th innings. Hibbits finished his Northwoods debut with three walks and six strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched. On the Dock Spiders side, Connor Cook posted near identical numbers walking three and striking out six in an even six innings pitched.

With a 2-0 lead going into the 7th inning, Fond Du Lac’s shortstop Cherokee LeBeau hit a double to shallow left field. He was moved to third on an infield put out and would score on a wild pitch in the next at bat. Ping-Chun Ho came in in relief for the Bombers at that point giving up a single before managing two fly-outs.

The Bombers were able to muster two runs in the 8th after Kelby Wyler was walked and then driven in by an Erik Owen triple. Owen would also score in the 8th at the hands of an error by Fond Du Lac’s second baseman, Parker Johnson.

The comeback effort from the Bombers would fall just short as they were not able to pick up a hit in the bottom of the 9th. Cook earned his first win for the Dock Spiders. Hibbits was handed his first loss and Nathan Thomas picked up the save.

Battle Creek returns on Friday night to close the series against the Dock Spiders at 7:05 p.m. back at C.O. Brown Stadium.

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.