KALAMAZOO, MI – Tonight’s starter, Connor Manous, set the tone early for the Growlers as he worked quickly and threw a lot of first pitch strikes. When working ahead in counts Manous is almost unhittable because of his 12 to 6 curveball. Manous’ curve was on point tonight, and his only blemish tonight came with the bases empty as Brandon Wulff smashed a first pitch fastball over the fence for a solo homerun and the first run of the ballgame. Kalamazoo fought back, however, and Manous was eventually awarded for his spectacular pitching performance with a win. Manous finished tonight’s game throwing 6.0 innings while only allowing 3 hits, and 1 earned run with 6 strikeouts.

Hayden Brauser came in to relieve Manous in the 7th and did not allow a run while getting a strikeout. Joey Knapp pitched the final 2 innings of the game. He allowed an earned run on 3 hits while getting 2 strikeouts, not to mention, Knapp earned his first save on the year. The Growlers’ bullpen shut the door on Fond du Lac not allowing them back in the game after taking back the lead.

Kalamazoo took the lead in the 6th inning after a Jeff Riedel double scored Michael Diffley and Connor Hollis. Kalamazoo did not relinquish the lead after the 6th, and they finished off the Dock Spiders by adding some insurance runs in the 8th. A Connor Hollis single scored Mitch Bigras, pushing the lead to 3-1. Two batters later Jack Duffy smacked a single into right field which scored Michael Diffley, and Connor Hollis expanding the Growlers’ lead to 5-1, a lead that the Dock Spiders could never recover from.

Fond du Lac had a great starting pitching performance tonight as well. Zack Kesterson was on the bump for the Dock Spiders and he pitched extremely well. He threw 7.0 innings for Fond du Lac only allowing 4 hits, and 2 earned runs.

Kalamazoo will finish their brief 3 game homestand tomorrow, facing the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders at Homer Stryker Field. The game will take place at 3:05 PM EST.

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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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, more than 180 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  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.