After four hours of baseball and 31 combined hits, Saturday night’s game looked more like a score you would see at a football game. But no, this is not football; this was a game that plated 17 Jackrabbit runs, the most of any game this season.

The Jackrabbits’ 17-run performance was not only the most runs scored this season, but tied a franchise record. To make things even weirder, Kokomo’s 17-run performance did not end in blowout fashion as one might expect, but instead ended with a narrow one-run victory.

Hit after hit and run after run was the story on Saturday, with the Jackrabbits barely escaping the ninth inning alive after four hours of baseball.

Entering the ninth up 17-15, Kokomo needed to make one final stand, and they did just that. On fireworks night with 2,000 in attendance, reliever Frederick Romano came in after two straight walks and finished the job with the tying run at first.

In Romano’s first at-bat on the mound, he pitched into a fielder’s choice, giving Kokomo one out and putting runners on the corners. Traverse City’s JT Sokolove hit a sacrifice fly to center, making the score 17-16 with the tying run still at first. One pitch later, Traverse City’s Ethan Guerra sent a routine ground ball straight to James Oman’s glove at second to seal Kokomo’s long-awaited victory.

A breath of fresh air washed over Kokomo Municipal Stadium after the final out was recorded, making post-game fireworks that much sweeter.

No lead was safe on Saturday, as the Jackrabbits let their 13-5 lead slip away after the fourth inning. However, despite walking 14 batters, Kokomo’s offense prevailed.

Leading the way was none other than Ethan Rossi, who was just a double away from completing the cycle. Rossi went 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs, hitting a home run, a triple, and two singles. Rossi also scored five runs, the most of any Jackrabbit on Saturday.

In fact, six of Kokomo’s starters recorded at least two or more hits, with Vincent Temesvary and Ethan Rossi both recording four. Temesvary went an astonishing 4-for-7, notching a triple and a double to complement his performance.

Despite Traverse City trailing by eight runs after four innings, they gave Kokomo a run for their money, scoring 10 combined runs from the sixth inning on.

Inconsistent pitching plagued both squads, with Traverse City’s pitching staff walking 10 batters and hitting seven, compared to Kokomo’s 14 walks and three hit batters.

The Jackrabbits’ 17-16 win over the Pit Spitters splits the first two games of a four-game series, which heads to Traverse City for two straight games starting Sunday, July 14th.

 

 

 

Article written by Charlie Huiras