FOND DU LAC, WI- On a rainy day the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (16-11) fell to the Kalamazoo Growlers by a score of 10-6.
A game that was uncertain if it would get it all its innings in saw an hour rain delay from about 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM.
The Growlers were able to rip out 13 hits and grabbed 3 runs in the first two frames. Fondy matched the Growlers hit total and picked up one run in the bottom of the 1st. After Alex Henwood (Nebraska) led things off with a base hit, he was sent home by Sam Cohen (UC Santa Barbara) on a sacrifice fly.
The Dock Spiders would cut away at the 6-1 deficit in the 3rd inning. Henwood once again led things off with a leadoff base hit. Alex Erro (Northwestern) followed with a base hit of his own. Henwood would score when the Growlers pitcher walked in a run cutting the lead to 6-2 for Kalamazoo. Erro would be sent home by Duncan Hewitt (Butler) who advanced to first on a fielders choice.
Kalamazoo leading 6-3 going into the top of the 5th would increase the lead to 5 on 3 base hits and 2 Fond du Lac errors. In the bottom of the 5th Duncan Hewitt (Butler) would ground into a 6-3 putout that sent Chris Ayers (Indiana State) home to cut the lead to just two runs.
Out of the rain delay in the 6th inning Kalamazoo was able to snag their 7th run of the ball game.
A late push from Fondy where they added two runs would end up not being enough. Jack Wassel (Minnesota) led things off with a single followed by another single from Tyler Wardwell (Duke). Wassel would end up scoring on a single from Henwood and Wardwell would end up getting to the plate on a fly out from Erro.
Fond du Lac will be back at home in just over 12 hours to take on Green Bay Bullfrogs at 11:35 from Herr-Baker Field.
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.
