FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 11, 2019
Contact: Bennett Wise, wisebm@miamioh.edu

Battle Creek, Mich. — It was a rough first two frames for Brayden Nelson (1-0, St. Bonaventure), after leadoff Bomber, Kelby Weyler (Lamar), reached and scored on a throwing error.

Battle Creek then tacked on another runner in the second on a fielder’s choice by Jack Merrifield (LSU-Eunice), scoring Steven Kokoski (St. Leo).

From then on, it was all Growlers. In the top of the third, newcomer Gabe Rivera (Miami (FL)) got his first RBI as a Growler scoring Brooks Coetzee (Notre Dame).

The offense stalled for a bit from the fourth until the top of the seventh when the Growlers led off with three straight singles. Miko Rodriguez (Texas A&M) recorded an RBI, scoring Coetzee. Emilio Rosas (U of Southern Cal) scored on a sacrifice fly from Rivera to make it 3-2 Growlers.

After the sacrifice fly, Shea Kramer (Utah) was intentionally walked, putting two runners aboard for Dakota Kotowski (Missouri State), who drove in Rodriguez and Kramer on a 2-RBI double, putting the score at 5-2, in favor of KZoo.

The Growlers added one more insurance run in the either on an RBI single from Rivera, scoring Rosas from second base.

Nelson went six innings, giving up one earned run on five hits. He also struck out four Bombers, while walked two.

Max Bain (Northwood) earned his second save of the season after throwing three, shutout innings. He added three strikeouts and two walks to his stat line.

The Kalamazoo Growlers return to action tomorrow in a doubleheader with the Battle Creek Bombers. First pitch of the first game is set for 1:05 p.m., while the second is set for 7:05 p.m. Both game will be played at C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek, Mich.

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.