Kenosha, Wis – The Rockford Rivets (11-6) dominated in every facet of the game for a huge 9-1 victory over the Kenosha Kingfish (6-11) on Thursday night at Simmons Field.
Pitcher Evan Snyder got his first start of the season for the Rivets and continued a trend of great outings by the Rivets’ starting rotation. He went six full innings, only allowing four hits, and striking out six. The lone run for Kenosha came across the plate under his watch in the bottom of the fifth. Rivets’ Manager Brian Smith applauded his performance after the game.
“You just tip your cap to [Snyder] challenging these guys today,” Smith said, “It’s a great ballpark to pitch in, and he made them put the ball in play.”
The offense got going in the first when Ryan Cole got hit with a pitch to start the inning and later scored from second base on an RBI single from catcher Brock Mathis. One batter later, with the bases loaded and still no outs, Tim Lilly came up to the plate and knocked home Mathis and Parker Bates to expand the Rivets’ lead to three.
“My teammates did a good job getting in scoring position,” Lilly said of the two-RBI single, “Which makes it really easy when you have bases loaded and no outs, you just have to put the ball in play and you get the free RBIs.”
The Rivets led by five after the top half of the second and the Kingfish had to make the early call to the bullpen.
Another offensive highlight came in the top of the fourth when designated hitter Jacob Vander Wal caught Kingfish pitcher Jack Zimmerman off-guard and was able to steal home to put the Rivets up 6-0. That was one of six Rivets’ steals on the day.
“Jake’s a really good baserunner,” Smith said of the steal, “And we saw how the pitcher was going into the wind up, we talked about it, and he went at the right time.”
Eight out of the nine Rivets in the starting lineup were able to score. Cole and Lilly each finished with two RBIs, while Mathis and Justin Walker finished with one.
“I was just trying to work counts and get a pitch that I could drive,” Cole said of his night, “I was trying to see pitches early, and get good swings.”
The series now shifts to Rockford for the second half of the home-and-home. It’s Gold Card Night at Rivets Stadium and first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM.
The Rockford Rivets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in 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 190 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.rockfordrivets.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rivets as your favorite team.