TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The Richmond Flying Mummies (15-15) eye redemption against the Traverse City Pit Spitters (18-12) Wednesday evening, riding a season-long five game losing streak.
Tuesday’s defeat marked back-to-back losses to the Battle Creek Battle Jacks, with the deciding runs coming at a similarly late time as game one. While both teams were weighed down by slow starts, Battle Creek finally broke through with a run scored in the fifth, before Richmond responded in the sixth. The seventh inning, however, is when the scales tipped, as the Battle Jacks crossed four runs to make it a 5-1 ballgame, proving to be the final score with the Mummies unable to respond.
Starting pitcher Lucas Valencia started off hot for the Flying Mummies in his season debut, allowing no hits and just two baserunners through four innings. A trio of two-out singles in the fifth would break the goose egg and score a run, but Valencia recovered for another hitless and scoreless sixth. Valencia’s day would come to a close after loading the bases with no outs in the seventh, and reliever JJ Jackson was unable to clean things up unscathed, watching the go-ahead scores cross.
The result did little damage to the Flying Mummies’ positioning in the Great Lakes East division, but the road to the top now has a few more obstacles with just six games to play until a first half champion is crowned. The Kalamazoo Growlers (18-12) are now tied for first with Traverse City, and the third-place Kenosha Kingfish (17-12) are positioned just 0.5 games back. Richmond sits in fourth, three games out of first place, still alive but desperately needing to string some wins together, and benefit from some key losses for the rest of the division.
The Flying Mummies return to Traverse City for the third and fourth games of the past six, split by the pair against the Battle Jacks. Richmond dropped the first game against the Pit Spitters 14-9 after falling in a 9-1 hole, while game two saw a 6-0 first inning lead for the Mummies that dissolved as the contest went on, eventually ending 8-6 in favor of the home team. The Pit Spitters and Mummies will continue to see each other into the weekend, playing Friday and Saturday for the first time in Richmond.
Nick Julian (2-0, 3.32 ERA) is tasked with trying to start the rebound effort for the Flying Mummies, fresh off eight days’ rest following a six inning outing in Richmond’s 13-7 win over the Royal Oak Leprechauns, securing his second win while allowing five hits and two runs with two walks and eight strikeouts. Kyle Timko (2-0, 3.70 ERA) is on the bump for Traverse City, last pitching seven innings of four-hit, three-run baseball and picking up the win in an 8-3 victory over Battle Creek with four walks and six punchouts.
First pitch tonight from Turtle Creek Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 PM EST. A livestream is also available on FloSports.
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The Richmond Flying Mummies are a proud member of the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 32nd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 26 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, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 410 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (BAL) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (NYM). League games are viewable live on FloSports.tv.
