WATERLOO, IA – A 14-inning effort the night before, a 400+ mile trip, and a Sunday matinee later, the Kalamazoo Growlers fell 11-1 to the Waterloo Bucks at Riverfront Stadium.
The Bucks (15-12) hit Kalamazoo starter Cole Schaefer (Coastal Carolina) early and often, stringing together six singles in the second inning to plate five runs. Taylor Lane (Florida) got the ball rolling with an RBI single, while Ryan Nagle (Illinois) wrapped it up as Waterloo sent 10 to the plate in the frame. The struggles extended to Growler reliever TJ Cerven (KVCC/GVSU) in the third as Tyler Selesky (Florida Gulf Coast) hit a solo home run to right field, the first of four more Buck runs. Waterloo would plate three more in the fourth, punctuated by Matthew James’s (Illinois) two-run single off Cerven.
The Growlers (7-20) got one back in the top of the eighth as Kory Brown (Bowling Green) doubled to lead off against Waterloo’s Nathan Spielvogel (Merrimack College), later scoring on an RBI single by Jordan Stading (Houston). There would be no repeat of Kalamazoo’s historic 11-run comeback from 10 days earlier, though, as Spieldenner sat the bats down 1-2-3 in the ninth.
Jordan Desguin (Florida Gulf Coast, 1-1) breezed to the win, tossing seven scoreless, two-hit innings. He walked two and struck out 10 on 96 pitches. Schaefer (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs in the second.
Justin Schander (Phoenix College) kept the Bucks out of the runs and hits column in the final four innings. Brown finished with three of Kalamazoo’s four hits, going 3-for-4 with the run and two doubles.
The Growlers wrap up their series in Waterloo on Monday night. First pitch from Riverfront Stadium is set for 8:05 p.m. EDT.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 22-year old summer collegiate 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, 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit http://www.northwoodsleague.com.