Ten entertaining games took place on Thursday night in the Northwoods League featuring a five inning no-hitter in Kalamazoo and an eight run inning for the Rivets in Wisconsin.
K-Town Bobbers 5, Kenosha Kingfish 1
The K-Town Bobbers (5-5) tied the 2020 Kenosha Series on a 5-1 win over the Kenosha Kingfish (5-5) on Thursday night at Simmons Field. K-Town struck first with two runs in the 3rd inning. With the bases loaded, Brett Harris (Gonzaga) drove in Walker Jenkins (Missouri Sate) on a sacrifice fly to left field for K-Town’s first run. Then Justice Bigbie (Western Carolina) followed with an RBI single, scoring Cam Cratic (Madison College), to put the Bobbers up 2-0. K-Town plated two more runs in the 5th inning to extend their lead 4-0. Nick Gonzalez (USF) led off the inning with a single and scored on an error to put K-Town up 3-0.. Harris scored the Bobbers fourth run of the game on a fielder’s choice. In the 5th inning, Kenosha’s Mitchell Buban (UW-Milwaukee) drove in Justin Janas (Illinois) to pull within three runs of the Bobbers, 4-1. The Bobbers extended their lead to 5-1 in the 7th inning on a Jared Weber (Florida A&M) RBI double that scored Bigbie. Quinn Gudaitis (Illinois Wesleyan University) pitched 5.0 shutout innings giving up just three hits and three walks while fanning seven. K-Town closer Anthony DeFrancesco (Arizona Christian University) pitched a clean 9th inning with a strikeout to secure the win. Kingfish starter Mike Edwards (UW-Milwaukee) took the loss pitching giving up four runs on six hits while striking out one in 5.0 innings.
Game 1: Battle Creek 3, Kalamazoo 0; Game 2: Battle Creek 2, Kalamazoo 0
The Battle Creek Bombers picked up two big wins tonight, acting as the home team against the visiting Kalamazoo Mac Daddies. Game one saw the Bombers plate all three of their runs in the bottom of the first, off a TJ McKenzie (Vanderbilt) three-RBI single. His single cleared the bases and scored Matt Hogan (Vanderbilt) , Justin Van De Brake (Washington State), and Joe Mason (Mount Olive). After one, it was 3-0 Bombers. That’s all the scoring that happened in game one, and all the Bombers needed. Starter Ryan Middendorf (Lake Erie College) threw a no-hitter on the defensive side for the Bombers, and only missed a perfect game by one base runner off an error in the fifth. Game two was much of the same for the Bombers, with starter Mitchell Lee (Lamar) throwing another gem for the Bombers. He went four innings, allowing three hits and giving up no runs. The Bombers offense did the rest, scoring two runs in the home half of the third. Josh Swinehart (Western Michigan) scored run one on a pass ball, and Jimmy Wressel (Concordia University) scored on a balk from Mac Daddies pitcher James Krick (Hillsdale College). The two shutouts were the seventh and eight shutouts of the season for the Bombers pitching staff, with now a team ERA of 2.04.
Willmar 5, Mankato 4
After a complete performance Wednesday night to topple Mankato, the Stingers replicated their success Thursday in a win over Mankato. Early runs and great bullpen pitching motored the Stingers to a 5-4 win over the MoonDogs to pick up a sweep and their 16th win of the season. For the second straight night, Willmar scored a pair of runs in the first inning. Brennan McKenzie (Cal Poly, Pomona) shot an RBI single up the middle to drive in the first run of the game. he was quickly followed by Cesar Lopez (Cal Poly, Pomona) who crushed a double to left field to give the Stingers the early advantage. Mankato got a run back in the second inning, but Willmar added a run of their own in the bottom half on a Kyle Manzardo (Washington State) sac fly. The Stingers would add another run in the fourth on another sac fly, this time off the bat of Tyler Wilber (Southeast Missouri State). Stinger pitching did a good job of limiting Mankato opportunities. Jack Zigan (Minnesota State), the Willmar starter, allowed 12 base runners, but only gave up three runs in his start. With a tie ballgame headed into the bottom of the half, Brooks Lee (Cal Poly, Pomona) knocked an RBI single to left field to give Willmar a 5-4 lead heading to the ninth. In the ninth, the Stingers called upon Jonathan Brand (Miami of Ohio), the Stinger reliever with the most wins of the season, for his first save opportunity of the season. He did not disappoint, as he retired all three batters, including a strikeout to end the game.
Fond du Lac 5, La Crosse 1
On the heels of a 9-0 shutout victory in Green Bay, the Dock Spiders earned their fourth consecutive win and ended the three-game win streak for the La Crosse Loggers in a sound 5-1 victory at home Thursday night. The offense did their job early once again, getting on the board in the second to take an early lead. Taylor Jackson (University of Illinois) started the inning with an opposite-field single and scored on a bunt from Marcos Sanchez (Texas Wesleyan University) that was fielded and hurled into right. Victor Scott II (West Virginia University) led off the fifth inning with a walk, and eventually tagged and scored from third on a sacrifice fly from John Rhodes (University of Kentucky) that gave Fondy a 2-0 lead. The Loggers would bring in their only run in the eighth inning bringing them to within a run. Fondy would get some separation in the bottom half, scoring three runs on two hits. Rhodes hit a leadoff single and stole second, followed by a walk to Aaron Anderson (Liberty University). With runners at first and second, Parker Noland (Vanderbilt University) dropped a bunt towards the first-base side that turned into an errant throw that trickled into right field allowing Rhodes to come in and score. Anderson tagged and scored from third base on a sacrifice fly ball to right off the bat of Jack Alexander (Austin Peay) that made it a 4-1 Fondy lead. Ryan Ritter (University of Kentucky) added one more on a line drive to left that scored Sanchez. The pitching staff made it three consecutive games with double-digit strikeouts en route to the 5-1 win. Jake Saum (UCLA) kept the Loggers off the board in his four and one-third innings, allowing just two hits and striking out six in his outing. Drew Irvine (University of Iowa) had another phenomenal home outing, striking out seven batters in four and two-thirds innings to lock down the win for Fondy.
Traverse City 8, Great Lakes 1
Dominant pitching was the story of the night as the Traverse City Pit Spitters rolled the Great Lakes Resorters 8-1 in front of 500 fans Thursday night at Turtle Creek Stadium. Four Traverse City pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts on just two hits as all-but-one batter recorded a base hit in the Pit Spitters tenth win over the Resorters this season. Great Lakes recorded their lone run on the night in the bottom of the first inning as Davenport University standout, Noah Marcoux, smoked an RBI-double to deliver the Resorters the 1-0 lead. Traverse City responded with a pair of tallies in the third inning featuring a Chris Monroe (Illinois, Springfield) sacrifice hit – his team-leading 16th RBI on the campaign – to take back the lead 2-1. The Pit Spitters added another mark in the sixth inning before Evan Maday (Hope College), Johnny Hipsman (Richmond) and Tito Flores (Michigan) each recorded an RBI in the seventh frame to take a commanding 6-1 advantage. In the top of the ninth, Chris Monroe crossed the plate on a double-steal before Jake Arnold (North Georgia) roped an RBI-single to put the finishing touches on a dominant 8-1 victory. Traverse City starting pitcher and University of Toledo bullpen arm, Kyle Jones (2-0), tossed just 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball with four strikeouts in his second win in 2020. Great Lakes starter, Kaden Alexander (Connors State College) (0-1), went four innings allowing two runs on six hits in his first loss.
Rockford 11, Wisconsin 7
The Rivets exploded for eight runs in the sixth inning to defeat the Woodchucks by a score of 11-7 on Thursday. The Woodchucks struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Adam Frank (Miami) homered to left field. The Rivets answered back in the top of the second when Jake Vander Wal (Saint Leo) singled to right field scoring Bobby Seymour (Wake Forest). The game would remain tied until the sixth when the Rivets would score eight runs on five hits with the big blow being a two run home run off the bat of Daniel Carinci (Kansas State). The Woodchucks would tack on three runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth but it wouldn’t be enough. Woodchucks starter Nick Marshall (Indian Hills Community College) took the loss while Rivets starter Zach Gammin (Coe College) was awarded the win.
Bismarck Bull Moose 9, Mandan 3
The Bismarck Bull Moose defeated the Mandan Flickertails by a score of 9-3 on Thursday night. All of the Bull Moose runs came in three innings as they scored two in the first, four in the fourth and three in the sixth. Mandan scored all three of their runs in the sixth inning. Noah Hemphill (Missouri Baptist) led the Bull Moose going two for three with three RBI. Torin Montgomery (Boise State), Larson Fontenot (Northwestern State) and Elijah Brum (Cal State Bakersfield) each had two RBI for Bismarck. Mandan was led by Jared Wegner (Creighton) as he drove in two runs for the Flickertails. On the mound Gunnar Boehm (Tiffin) went 5.1 innings for the Bull Moose striking out eight.
St. Cloud 4, Rochester 2
St. Cloud bested the Honkers in a pitcher’s duel on Thursday night by a score of 4-2. The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Kyle Huckstorf (Iowa Western) of the Honkers scored on a wild pitch. The Rox would answer in the bottom of the inning with four runs. The big blows were running scoring doubles by Nick Marinconz (Cal Poly) and Collin Montez (Washington State). The Honkers would get one back in the top of the sixth inning but that would be all as they would be held scoreless by the Rox pitching staff the rest of the way. Luke Albright (Kent State) would get the win for the Rox going 5.0 innings allowing one run and striking out six.
Friday’s Schedule
| 5:15 pm (Eastern) | Kalamazoo Mac Daddies | Battle Creek Bombers | Homer Stryker Field | |
| 7:05 pm (Eastern) | Traverse City Pit Spitters | Great Lakes Resorters | Turtle Creek Stadium | |
| 6:05 pm (Central) | K-Town Bobbers | Kenosha Kingfish | Simmons Field | |
| 6:35 pm (Central) | Waterloo Bucks | Mankato MoonDogs | Riverfront Stadium | |
| 6:35 pm (Central) | Fond du Lac Dock Spiders | La Crosse Loggers | Herr-Baker Field | |
| 6:35 pm (Central) | Wisconsin Woodchucks | Rockford Rivets | Athletic Park | |
| 6:35 pm (Central) | Green Bay Booyah | Wisconsin Rapids Rafters | Capital Credit Union Park | |
| 8:00 pm (Eastern) | Kalamazoo Mac Daddies | Battle Creek Bombers | Homer Stryker Field | |
| 7:05 (Central) | Bismarck Larks | Bismarck Bull Moose | Bismarck Municipal Ballpark | |
| 7:05 (Central) | St. Cloud Rox | Willmar Stingers | Joe Faber Field |