Loves Park, Ill.- The Rockford Rivets couldn’t get the fireworks going at Rivets Stadium on the fourth of July and they fell to the Wisconsin Woodchucks 6-2.
The Rivets got on the board right away when they used three singles and a sacrifice fly to put up two runs and lead the game after one inning by a score of 2-0. However, this was the only offense Rockford could put together for the rest of the game.
Newcomer Zach Sehgal started at second base for the Rivets on Wednesday and finished the game with one hit, a walk and one of Rockford’s two runs. Designated hitter Cade Bunnell was the only batter to finish with two hits or more for the Rivets.
Rivets manager Brian Smith said that it was nice to add another player like Sehgal in the lineup, who is talented on both sides of the ball.
“A new guy comes into the lineup and gets a hit, that’s almost a given now,” Smith said. “He got on base for us and made a nice double play. He will be able to get a lot of at bats and move around the infield defensively.”
Jimmy Burnette started on the rubber for Rockford and went 3.2 innings while allowing three earned runs and just two hits. They then used a combination of Cooper Cain and Alex Bacevicius to finish the game. Bacevicius went two innings and allowed no runs in his first outing with the team.
Rivets Manager Brian Smith was happy with the way Bacevicius performed in his first appearance and said that he would eventually make his way into the rotation.
“He’s a guy who changes speeds really well and he’s had a lot of success in college,” Smith said. “He’s always excited for his opportunity to get the ball and he deserves it every time he gets it. We are going to work him into the rotation probably in the next week or so.”
This was the Rivets first game for the second half of the season in the Northwoods League and they now sit at 0-1 in the South Division. Their next game will be tomorrow in Rockford at 6:35 pm against the Woodchucks.
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.