KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Kalamazoo Growlers (13-9) scored nine ninth-inning runs following four total hours of rain delays, sweeping the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (6-13) in a two-game series.<\/p>\n
First pitch was scheduled for 1:05 p.m. CT but was not thrown until just after 3 p.m., marking the first two hours of delays.<\/p>\n
Following the long wait, D.J. Helwig<\/strong> opened on the mound, allowing one run in the second inning, but not giving up his first hit until the sixth inning, completing six innings of one-hit, six-strikeout work.<\/p>\n In support, the Kalamazoo offense threatened multiple times, but scratched across just one run in the fifth on a wild pitch, tying the game at 1-1.<\/p>\n Cade Queen<\/strong> shut down the Kalamazoo offense through seven, allowing just the one run while striking out eight.<\/p>\n David Ladjevic<\/strong> threw a scoreless top of the eighth, before the rain re-arrived around 5:30 p.m. entering the bottom of the eighth.<\/p>\n Two hours later,\u00a0Bryce<\/strong> Brannon<\/strong>, who entered the game right before the rain came, finally threw his first pitch of the night. Back-to-back walks to open the inning were followed by a strikeout and double-play, keeping the game tied at one.<\/p>\n “I thought they came prepared and were excited to go win that game,” Coach Piechocki said postgame, “what really gets credit is Bryce Brannon… he put up a zero for us and really let our guys settle in after the delay.”<\/p>\n In the top of the ninth chaos ensued. Nine runs on eight hits for the visiting Growlers gave them a 10-1 lead, highlighted by a\u00a0Nick Frontino<\/strong> three-run home run.<\/p>\n “Felt amazing. I was due eventually,” Frontino said postgame.<\/p>\n Kalamazoo remains atop the Great Lakes East standings prior to continuing the road trip against the Rockford Rivets Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:35 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Kalamazoo Growlers (13-9) scored nine ninth-inning runs following four total hours of rain delays, sweeping the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,15,142],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-game-recaps","category-team-news","category-update-ticker"],"yoast_head":"\n