KENOSHA, Wis. – The Kenosha Kingfish (32-26, 10-13) fell to the Green Bay Bullfrogs (17-40, 5-17) by a score of 7-3 on Saturday at Historic Simmons Field, their first home loss of the season to Green Bay. Despite the loss, the Kingfish maintained their hold on fourth place in the Northwoods League South Division standings.
Kenosha began the game looking like they were ready to put up another big run total the way they did in each game of their recent four-game win streak. The very first pitch of the game hit center fielder Connor Doyle (University of San Diego), who would then steal second base and reach third on a wild pitch. Designated hitter Mike Madej (Purdue) then drew a walk before left fielder Jack Yalowitz (Illinois) drove in the first run of the game on a groundout.
Madej would go on to score on a wild pitch, followed by a two-out walks to right fielder Austin Bodrato (Florida) and an RBI single by catcher Jesse Wilkening (Nebraska). Despite recording just one hit in the opening frame, the Kingfish led 3-0.
The offense was halted after that for Kenosha, but thanks to some excellent pitching from Zach Stromberg (Boston College), it appeared for a while that three runs might be all it would take to win. Stromberg got through the first six innings of Saturday’s game having allowed just one run on two hits, both of which were triples.
He’d retired two of the first three batters of the seventh inning and had a runner at second when the lights down the first base line shut down, causing a 16-minute delay. When the game resumed, Ben Lynam (Parkland CC) was brought on to finish the game, but allowed an RBI single on the first pitch he threw, then committed an error on the next hitter that allowed the tying run to score.
From there, the Bullfrogs’ offense rolled. They scored two runs on two hits and two walks in the eighth inning to grab their first lead of the contest, then scored two more runs on four hits in the ninth to put the game away.
Wilkening finished this one 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk, while Madej and Bodrato each reached twice on a hit and a walk. Stromberg finished his stellar outing with a season-high 6.2 innings pitched and two runs allowed on three hits and two walks while fanning five.
The Kingfish will look to earn a series split with the Bullfrogs on Sunday, with first pitch set for 4:05 p.m. There will be a Columbia College of Missouri military jersey auction, as well as tribute to A League Of Their Own presented by Blackhawk Community Credit Union.
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The Kenosha Kingfish 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 180 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.greenbaybullfrogs.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Bullfrogs as your favorite team.
