Mequon, Wis. — The Lakeshore Chinooks defeated the Kalamazoo Growlers 5-2 on Sunday night in a game shortened to seven innings because of the fog covering the field.
The Chinooks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first after three straight hits by Blake Butler (College of Charleston), Jake Noll (Florida Gulf Coast), and Connor McKay (Kansas). Growlers starter Dillon Haviland (Duke University) settled in after the first inning, Kalamazoo began to chip away in the third. An RBI triple from Troy Montgomery (Ohio State) and an RBI single John Rubino (Eastern Michigan) cut the Chinooks lead to one, but the Growlers were unable to tack on any more after that.
One run each in the third and fourth innings for Lakeshore sealed the win. Joe Pavlovich (UW-Oshkosh) was credited with the win, picking up his 2nd of the season while going six strong innings and striking out four.
The Kalamazoo Growlers will face the Chinooks tomorrow night in the 2nd game of this two game set. First pitch is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. eastern.
The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit http://www.growlersbaseball.com.