The two teams will meet tomorrow for the first game of the NWL Playoffs

 

Kalamazoo, Mich., — The Kalamazoo Growlers (37-35) downed the Traverse City Pit Spitters (52-20) by a final score of 15-4.

The Growlers scored five runs in the first, as the first six batters reached base. Hunter Thorn (Purdue Northwest) singled through the left side to score Nick Neville. In the ensuing at bat, Emilio Rosas (Southern California) drilled his second home run and first grand slam of the summer to put Kalamazoo on top. 

KZoo added four more runs in the third on another grand slam by Jarrett Smetana (Kent State), driving in Thorn, Clay Owens (Southern California) and Joe Stewart (MSU).

Nate Wargolet (1-0, GVSU) pitched 4.2 shutout innings, allowing four hits, while striking out four Pit Spitters. 

Wargolet was replaced by Travis Bowman (Mount Mercy), who retired seven of the next eight batters he faced.

Traverse City scored all four runs on four hits in the seventh, including a two run single by Trace Slancik (Hope). Mario Camilletti (Oakland) and Michael Slaten (Benedictine) had back-to-back RBIs as well.

The Growlers capped off the eighth by scoring six runs on four hits, including a three-run double by Owens. The other three runs came on a Nick Neville (South Carolina) RBI walk, an RBI single by Rosas and an RBI groundout by Stewart. 

Jarrett Smetana was the standout of the game for the Growlers, who in his first game in the order this season, went 3-5 with four RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base. 

Sean Hoey (0-1, Hope) registered his first loss of the summer after allowing eight earned runs on seven hits.

The Kalamazoo Growlers return to action tomorrow, in the first game of the 2019 Northwoods League Playoffs against the Traverse City Pit Spitters. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. JT Rogoszewski (CMU) and Chad Patrick (Purdue Northwest) are the designated starters for the game.

 

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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.