ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Kenosha Kingfish (24-28) broke a five-game losing streak with outstanding pitching Sunday to beat the Rockford Rivets (22-31) at Rivets Stadium 6-0.
All phases were firing on all cylinders for the Kingfish with the scoring starting early. Connor Doyle (San Diego) led off the game with a walk off of Rockford starter Jimmy Burnette. Scott Dubrule (Jacksonville) followed that up with a single to put runners on the corners. Ben Troike (Illinois) was able to bring home Doyle with a groundout.
Later in the first, Marty Bechina (Michigan State) singled and stole second before being brought home on a Jack Weiller (Virginia) double.
Kaleb Schmidt (Drury) got the start and picked up where he left off last time. Schmidt had some runners reach on two walks and a couple errors, but he did not allow a run to cross the plate. Schmidt ended the day with five scoreless innings pitched with only two hits allowed and five strikeouts. Schmidt got the win and improved his record to 2-4.
The Kingfish scored once again in the third inning when Doyle once again led off with a walk. Dubrule followed up with another base knock and then Troike brought home Doyle with a single. During Weiller’s at-bat, Dubrule was able to score by stealing home. It was the tenth stolen base for Dubrule on the season.
The Kingfish scored again in the fourth inning when Carson McCusker (Oklahoma State) led off with a walk. McCusker advanced twice on wild pitches before Evan McDonald (Fairleigh Dickinson) brought him home on a single.
Brent Villasenor (Chicago) relieved Schmidt and was terrific out of the bullpen. Villasenor ended up going four scoreless innings only allowing three hits and striking out five. Villasenor got the save, his second on the season.
Kenosha added one more run in the seventh when Weiller hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Dubrule. Weiller extended his team-leading RBI total to 23 with a couple in Sunday’s game. Dubrule ended the game 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored.
The game Sunday was the final one before the All-Star break for the Northwoods League. The All-Star Game will be played Tuesday in Kalamazoo, Mich. with Trent Palmer (Jacksonville) and Josh Serio (UW-Milwaukee) representing the team.
The Battle Creek Bombers (24-28) will come to Historic Simmons Field for a doubleheader Thursday with a continuation of the second game of the year. Both games can be watched online on Northwoods League TV and listened to for free on the Kenosha Kingfish Radio Network on Ustream.
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The Kenosha Kingfish are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 185 former 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 (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.KingfishBaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Kingfish as your favorite team.
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