The Rockford Rivets struggled against the Kenosha pitchers at Rivets stadium Friday night and as a result they fell to the Kingfish by a score of 3-0.
Rivet’s pitcher Jackson Bronke struggled right out the gate for Rockford and was pulled after the first inning due to Northwood’s League rules. If a pitcher in this league throws more than 35 pitches in an inning the manager can’t allow that pitcher to throw anymore that game.
During the first inning Bronke allowed a three run homerun to third baseman Will Wagner, which accounted for the only runs for the game.
Rivet’s manager Brian Smith acknowledged Bronke’s struggles but said that one inning shouldn’t determine the outcome of the entire game.
“Obviously Jackson struggled out the gate, which is kind of tough,” Smith said. “A three run homer in the first shouldn’t beat you, and it did for us tonight.”
The bullpen then took over for the rest of the game. Rockford finished the game with a combination of pitching from JT Baksha, Anthony Holubecki and Nolan Gazouski. The three combined for 10 strikeouts with three walks and no runs allowed.
Smith was happy with the way his bullpen came in to close out the game.
“They did a really good job,” Smith said. “The bullpen has had a rough week but seeing those guys come in and compete in the strike zone was huge for us moving forward.”
The Rivets had just five hits on the game and Kenosha pitcher Colton Johnson struck out seven while allowing no walks.
Right fielder Jacob Vander Wal recorded one of the Rivets five hits when he hit a double in his first at bat in the second inning. In the last seven days, Vander Wal has a batting average of .350.
After Friday nights game, the Rivets split the series with Kenosha and will now head to Wisconsin to take on the Woodchucks at 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.
