The Rockford Rivets fell to the Lakeshore Chinooks by a score of 2-1 on Monday at Rivets stadium in game one of a two game set.
Rockford and Lakeshore both struggled at the plate with Rockford finishing with four hits compared to Lakeshore’s five.
Rivet’s Manager Brian Smith said it’s hard to tell why his team has struggled to get hits at home.
“We are going to have to shake things up the next couple days,” Smith said. “It’s just a bad time for a team of 14 to go into a slump, while the pitchers are doing what their doing.”
The Rivets struck first in the fifth inning when designated hitter Cade Bunnell hit a line drive just past the third baseman to score shortstop Justin Walker and put Rockford up 1-0. The Chinooks answered immediately in the top of the sixth when they managed to put up two runs and take the 2-1 lead.
Starting pitcher Tyler “Big Country” Thornton made his first start for the Rivets and didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning. He went six innings, struck out six batters, allowed two earned runs and gave up just one walk. Nathan Schneiderman and Luke Anderson both came in for relief and combined for three innings of scoreless baseball with both allowing one hit a piece. Schneiderman struck out three in two innings while Anderson struck out two in his one inning of relief.
Smith was happy with Thornton’s first start and the bullpen’s performance.
“Tyler Thornton did a great job and threw strikes,” Smith said. “Six innings, three hits, six k’s and one walk, you can’t ask for anything more than that. The bullpen did a good job between Luke and Nate.”
The Rivets currently sit at fourth in the South Division of the Northwoods League with a 15-12 record. In the next week Rockford will have two series against two teams at the top of the division. On Wednesday they will have a double header with the first place Madison Mallards. Then on Thursday and Friday they will play the second place Kalamazoo Growlers.
Tomorrow the Rivets will wrap up their series with the Chinooks in Rockford 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.