MEQUON, Wis. – It was a rough day all around for the Rockford Rivets (17-15), as they lost 16-1 to the Lakeshore Chinooks Sunday at Kapco Park (17-16).
Rivets starter Brad Littleton (Indiana) didn’t pitch poorly, but didn’t get any help from his defense either. Only three of the eight runs he let up were earned. Littleton allowed six hits and struck out one batter while walking two in three innings of work.
The Chinooks led 1-0 entering the bottom of the third inning, then piled on seven more runs in the inning on four hits and three Rivets errors. Lakeshore then tacked on three runs in the fourth and four runs in the fifth off Brian Wichman (Indianapolis) to take a 15-0 lead after the fifth. The Chinooks got one more run in the sixth. In the end, four different Chinooks scored three runs each.
Rylan Thomas (Central Florida) and Nick Gatewood (Georgia State) hit back-to-back home runs in the Chinooks four-run fifth inning. Thomas went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and Gatewood went 3-5 with 4 RBI, with all four of his RBI coming in separate plate appearances. Left-hander Tyler Jandron (Northwood) started for Lakeshore and was great from the start. Jandron struck out nine batters over six shutout innings and allowed just four hits to earn the win.
In the loss, Neal Tyrell (Lewis) had an excellent day at the plate for the Rivets. Tyrell went 3 for 4 with a solo home run and two singles. The home run broke the shutout in the eighth inning.
Rockford committed five errors and struck out 14 times as a team in the game. The Rivets play two games against the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters on the road starting Monday.
The Rockford Rivets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, which will play its 24th season of summer collegiate baseball in 2017. 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, 160 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals), two-time World Champion Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets) and Lucas Duda (Mets). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com.
