Rough 6th Dooms Growlers

The bats were hot early for both ball clubs. Michael Diffley (San Diego State) got things going early on the offensive end for Kalamazoo with an RBI-single in the visitor’s half of inning number one that would plate leftfielder Connor Hollis (Houston).

A chopper over the head of first baseman Charlie Carpenter (USC Upstate) off the bat of Jefferey Mitchell Jr. (California) would roll to the right field wall in the first half. That would plate three Mallards in Jake Snider (Louisville), Doran Turchin (Illinois), and Angel Camacho (Jacksonville).

The Growlers would get one back in the top of inning number two after a Jeff Riedel (Ball State) sac-fly to score centerfielder Christian Moya (USC), 3-2 Mallards.

Madison would plate two more ducks following back to back errors charged to both Charlie Carpenter and Drew Huff (Middle Tennessee State), 5-2.

Kalamazoo remained hot out of the gate offensively. Credit Drew Huff with an RBI on a fielder’s choice to bring home Carpenter in the third.

In the fourth, Ryan Orr (San Diego State) picked up his first RBI on the season to bring the Growlers within one. Jason Sullivan (Central Michigan) would follow with an RBI single to tie the game at five a piece.

It wasn’t long, however, before the Mallards regained the lead after a Doran Turchin sacrifice-fly to bring home Jalen Harrison (Virginia), 6-5 Madison.

The hometown team came out swinging the bats in the bottom of the sixth inning. Back to back walks to both Cole Daily (Notre Dame) and Jake Snider (Louisville) would lead to an RBI double for Turchin, paving the way for a seven run sixth for the Mallards.

Madison wouldn’t look back after inning number six. Consistent pitching out of the bullpen from relievers Sam Cottingham-Beard (Western Illinois), Mitch Vogrin (Illinois State), and Tiegen Jones (Fresno State) would close the doors on game one of two.

Kalamazoo will try again tomorrow. First pitch is set for 8:05 ET.

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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 170 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.