Kalamazoo, MI. — In a game featuring two ties and two lead changes, the Kalamazoo Growlers (25-19, 9-3) came out victorious in a 6-5 triumph over the Kenosha Kingfish (16-30, 3-8) at Homer Stryker Field Friday evening. The Growlers improve to a dominant 9-1 over the Kingfish this season.
The Kingfish struck first in the fourth on a two-run blast from Luke Stephenson to take an early 2-0 advantage. The Growlers answered quickly in the bottom frame as Zack Gelof (Virginia) scored on an error followed by the game-tying RBI double by Joel Brewer (South Carolina) to knot the score.
Kalamazoo took its first lead of the game in the fifth on a bases-clearing, three-run double courtesy of Shea Kramer (Utah) to make it 5-2 in favor of the Growlers. Kenosha answered again with three runs on three hits in the sixth to even the score at 5-5.
The Growlers took the lead for good in the home half of the sixth on a RBI single provided by Nick Neville (South Carolina) to put Kalamazoo in front 6-5.
Growlers reliever Eamon Horwedel (Ohio Univ.) earned his fifth save of the season, while DJ Moore (Huntington Univ.) notched his third win. Kingfish relief pitcher Sam Marhefke took the loss, falling to 0-3.
The Kalamazoo Growlers remain at Homer Stryker Field tomorrow evening, opening up a two-game series versus the Wisconsin Woodchucks. First pitch is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start.
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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.