FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 10, 2019

Contact: Jackson Kaplan, Kalamazoo Growlers

jkapla11@uncc.edu

Kalamazoo, MI — The Kalamazoo Growlers (8-6) return to the win column with a strong 8-1 victory over the visiting Traverse City Pit Spitters (6-8) from Homer Stryker Field Monday evening. The Growlers jumped on the visitors early with a six-run second frame to cruise to a much-needed home win.

In the second inning, a RBI single from Hunter Thorn (Purdue Northwest) got the offensive fireworks started followed by a three-run blast courtesy of Emilio Rosas (USC) to take a 4-0 lead. Shea Kramer (Utah) capped off the inning with a two-run shot of his own to make it 6-0.

Traverse City drove home its lone run of the contest on a sacrifice fly in the top of the third to cut the deficit to 6-1. The Growlers tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the fifth on a Thorn RBI double and RBI groundout from Jake Topolski (Duke) to stretch the margin to 8-1.

Kalamazoo starting pitcher Michael Dunkelberger (Indiana) earned the win in his first start of the season, improving to 1-0. Dunkelberger put together a stellar performance, allowing just one run on four hits with six strikeouts through six innings of work. Growler’s relievers Spencer Juergens (Missouri) and Kaden Helsel (Drury) combined for two perfect frames in relief to shut the door.

The Kalamazoo Growlers will venture 35 minutes down I-94 tomorrow morning, facing the Battle Creek Bombers for the third time this summer. First pitch is slated for an 7:05 p.m. start. Tomorrow begins a stretch of four straight games for the Growlers this week against their rivals.

###

The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Currently in its’ 26th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 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 (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.