Loves Park, Il. – The Rockford Rivets failed to complete the sweep against Kenosha Sunday afternoon at Rivets Stadium when they fell to the Kingfish 6-0.
Kenosha recorded 13 hits compared to Rockford’s five in their shutout win over the Rivets.
The Kingfish’s offense got things rolling early when they scored two runs in the first inning. They put two more across in the third and a pair of runs in both the fourth and seventh inning.
“Today was a tough one,” Rivet’s Manager Brian Smith said after the game. “We were never out of it, we had base runners, but it was just one of those days.”
Second baseman Kian O’Brien and right fielder Jake Vander Wal provided the main highlights for the Rivet’s offense. O’Brien finished with two hits and Vander Wal hit his eleventh double of the season.
Rockford went through six different pitchers during Sunday’s game, with Jimmy Burnette getting the start on the mound. He went three innings and allowed two earned runs while picking up two strikeouts.
Smith said that he was not afraid to use his bullpen with the Northwoods League All-Star break starting on Monday.
“On a day like today we had a full bullpen and everyone was ready to go,” Smith said. “We just wanted to get some confidence going for the guys who don’t throw too much.”
The Rivet’s next game will be at Madison against the Mallards on Thursday, July 26 at 7 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.