Battle Creek, MI- For the first time in franchise history the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (20-14) reached 20 wins in the first half of the season after shutting out the Battle Creek Bombers (16-18) 4-0.
Mike Gagliardi (Army West Point) got his first start on the mound for the Dock Spiders and threw 4 1/3 innings and only allowed one hit.
After a scoreless first inning Fondy would pick up two runs in the second. Jacob Adams (Ole Miss) would be credited with the RBI single and one more run would score on an error to the Bombers center fielder. For Adams he is really heating up for Fondy and now has hits in 10/11 games.
With two outs in the top of the 6th frame Tyler Wardwell (Duke) would drive in the third run of the ball game with a two out RBI single.
The bullpen for the Spiders was absolutely stellar tonight. Ben Probst (Iowa) who who earn the win tossed 1 2/3 innings allowed just one hit and tacked on four strikeouts. Michael Hope (Shippensburg) would be the third Spider used on the mound and he threw for three frames. Hope only allowed on hit and added four strikeouts.
Fondy would tack on an insurance run in the top of the 9th scoring on a wild pitch.
For the Dock Spiders it was their first shutout against the Bombers this season and their fourth shutout on the summer.
Fond du Lac will close out the Michigan road trip tomorrow night at Battle Creek. First pitch at 6:05 CST.
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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,more than 190 former 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 (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.dockspiders.comor download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Dock Spiders as your favorite team.
