KALAMAZOO, MI – The Battle Creek Burritos beat the Kalamazoo Corndogs 14-6 Friday at Homer Stryker Field in front of 3,309 fans. The Burritos used the long ball to score in bunches, while Kalamazoo couldn’t get much of anything going on offense.
The Burritos started the scoring in the first. After a leadoff walk, Kalamazoo starter Tyler Drabick gave up a two-run home run to Nick Walker.
In the second, the first batter that Drabick faced, Aaron Antonini, hit a lined shot to left. Matt Schwarz was tracking it all the way, and tumbled over the short porch in an attempt to make the catch but couldn’t.
Later in the inning, Tom Stoffel doubled with two men on to extend the Battle Creek lead to 5-0. Drabick left the game with an injury, and Walter Talcott came on to replace him. Talcott got the first two outs but walked a man with the bases loaded to make it 6-0 Battle Creek.
The fifth inning saw Battle Creek add four more to their lead. With Mitch Bigras pitching, Cody Hawken singled in one run. Two batters later Alex Howard hit a deep three-run homer to make it 10-0.
In the seventh inning, Battle Creek added more runs. Cody Hawken hit a two-run homer off Bryce Welborn to make it a 12-1 game. They would add another run later in the inning on a wild pitch.
The Growlers showed a little of an offensive spark in the ninth, scoring five runs. It was the only inning besides the 6th the Corndogs scored. Battle Creek starting pitcher Tyler Garam went seven innings, giving up six hits and one run.
Kalamazoo play again Saturday at 7:05 p.m., when they start a two game series with Fond du Lac. It’s Military Appreciation Night, featuring an appearance from Mad Chad the Chainsaw Juggler.
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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 180 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.growlersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Growlers as your favorite team.