KALAMAZOO, MI – The Growler fell to the Lakeshore Chinooks in a close 8-7 loss in the second of a two-game series.

Luke Boyd started on the bump for the Growlers and was only able to pitch to seven batters before hitting his pitch limit for the inning and being replaced by Dakota Roberts. The Chinooks quickly went up 5-0 in the top of the first inning.

Following the Chinooks quick lead, the Growlers were unable to produce any runs until the bottom of the fourth inning when they answered with five runs of their own to tie the game. Jared Miller started the fourth inning comeback with a single to right field. Sam Faith scored Miller with his single. Cayman Richardson drove in the second run of the inning driving in Brendan Rivoli. Jonathan Foster then drove in two runs with his double making the score 5-4. It was Matt Mervis would drive in Foster to make the score 5-5 after four innings.

The Chinooks answered with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning, giving them back the lead, 7-5. The Growlers were not done when Richardson would again pick up the RBI scoring Miller, bringing the score to 7-6 after five innings.

The Growlers tied the game at 7-7 after Mervis’ lead off double to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Miller would drive in Mervis on a 4-3 putout.

The score would remain tied at 7-7 until the top of the ninth when the Chinooks sent Takahiro Yamada to the plate where he would then have a sacrifice fly to left field where he scored Ronald Sweeny III to take back the lead from the Growlers to make the score 8-7.

The Growlers were unable to produce any runs in the bottom of the ninth.

The Growlers begin their five-day road trip tomorrow in Green Bay playing the Bullfrogs. They will return on Wednesday, July 11th to face the Battle Creek Bombers at Homer Stryker Field.

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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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, 190 former 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 (TOR).  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.