KENOSHA, Wis. — The Kalamazoo Growlers (20-12) rode an extra-innings two-run home run to a 7-5 road win against the Kenosha Kingfish (17-14) Thursday night.
Both sides found runs in the first inning, with Kalamazoo scoring two on a Teddy Tokheim double and the Kingfish capitalizing on a Brendan Fritch RBI single.
After the 2-1 lead to open, Jeremiah Holder extended his day to 5.2 innings of four-run ball. In his aid, the Growler offense found another run, with Holder ending his day in a 4-3 deficit.
In the top of the seventh, Tokheim brought in another run on a triple and Chase Thomas brought Tokheim home on a single, giving Kalamazoo a 5-4 lead.
Bryce Brannon and Bryan Carney each threw a scoreless inning, taking the game to the bottom of the ninth.
With runners on the corners and two outs against Liam Golden, a ball went through catcher Mitchell Morton’s legs, allowing a run to score and tying the game.
In the tenth, Morton made up for his mistake. After a failed bunt attempt resulting in the first out of the inning, Morton launched a ball deep into left field, giving Kalamazoo a 7-5 lead.
“It was one of those at-bats where I didn’t see it, but I heard it,” coach Piechocki said after the game. “I’m really proud of him. I know he was beating himself up for letting that ball through. Credit to him for getting back to work and picking his teammates up.”
Christian Forniss exited the bullpen for the tenth and retired the Kingfish in order, securing Kalamazoo’s 20th win.
“You can tell how composed and calm he is, having him back there was the plan and he came up clutch for us,” Piechocki said.
The win keeps Kalamazoo tied with Traverse City atop the Great Lakes East with four games remaining in the first half. The Kingfish move to 2.5 games behind the two leaders, but still have two games against the Pit Spitters remaining on their schedule.
“We just take it game by game and keep rolling,” Morton said.
The Growlers return home to face the Royal Oak Leprechauns on Friday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET.
