KALAMAZOO, MI – The force was not with the Growlers on Star Wars night as they totalled only three hits against the La Crosse Loggers in a 5-0 loss at Homer Stryker Field.
The dangerous Mason McCoy (Illinois CC-Iowa), who is leading the Northwoods League with a batting average of .377, went 0-4, but other Loggers stepped up to create enough offense to beat Kalamazoo.
A pitchers duel until the 5th, Luis Trevino changed that with a one out double against Alec Byrd (Florida State), put runners on second and third. The following batter, Denzl Chapman (San Diego State), hit a bases clearing double to give the Loggers (12-7,31-22) a 2-0 lead.
La Crosse was able to tack on two more runs the next inning off another two-run double, this time from soon to be Michigan State Spartan Jordan Zimmerman. The hit came off of Kalamazoo reliever Nathan Coakley (St. Francis), but the base runners belonged to Byrd so Coakley did not get those charged to his earned run average.
Coakley pitched a total of two innings and did not allow any more runs and only walked one batter.
The last pitcher used by Kalamazoo, Adrian Morales (Rochester College), pitched the final two innings, allowed an unearned run, but did not walk a batter and gave up a single hit.
Kalamazoo (7-14, 13-39) was plagued by bad luck for the entire game. On three different occasions the Growlers were able to get base runners early in the inning, only to hit into a double play. In the bottom of the fourth, the bases were loaded with two outs only to have Dylan Busby (Florida State) to strike out swinging.
For the final two games of the homestand for the Growlers, the Wisconsin Woodchucks come into the confines of Homer Stryker Field.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 21-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.