Rockford was hot as could be on Friday. The Rivets notched 12 hits throughout the contest to blow past the Traverse City Pit Spitters 7-2.
The game started with some excitement early as Traverse City put a man on base in the top of the first. Rockford Catcher Juaire hit Jeff Heinrich in running stride as Jeff put the tag down to get the lead runner.
In the bottom of the inning, Jake Vander Wal hit an RBI double in his plate debut with the 2019 Rivets. Vander Wal is a returning player to the Rockford Roster.
Manager Josh Keim had praises for Vander Wal after the game.
“It was huge for us to add him to the lineup tonight. I don’t know anybody who loves Rockford, Illinois more than Jake Vander Wal. He plays with passion.
Zack Jones also had a solid day on the mound for the Rivets. Jones recorded 9 strikeouts while only allowing two runs, while only one qualified as an earned run.
Keim had some words for the pitching staff after Friday’s contest.
“Zack was great, and he did exactly what we thought he was going to do. We executed our game plan perfectly with the back-end guys in Seebach, Keim, and Dittmar. Everyone did their job.”
In the bottom of the 4th, Jeff Heinrich goes deep over the left field wall for a 2 run home run, which was his first on the year.
Cade Heil replaced Kyle Jones on the mound for Traverse City, with two men on. Blake Burrows, then, singled to right field to drive in Malik Williams, and give the Rivets a 4-0 lead.
Traverse City saw a little excitement with two runs in the top of the 6th inning, but Jake Vander Wal answered right back as he crushed a 2 out solo shot to the right field deck for his 3rd hit on the day.
Outfielder Nick Figus drew a big walk in 8th to load the bases for Juaire. Juaire then outran a slow grounder to the shortstop, and a wild throw to first brought in 2 insurance runs to make it 7-2 Rivets.
Closer Dittmar entered in the 9th for the Rivets, and had an easy 1-2-3 inning to secure the 7-2 victory for the Rivets
Rockford goes to the road to take on the Kokomo Jackrabbits, and the Kalamazoo Growlers over the next 4 days. They will return home to Choice Furniture Field at Rivets Stadium on Wednesday to battle the Traverse City Pit Spitters.
For tickets, call the box office at 815-240-4159
The Rockford Rvets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 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 (MIA). 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.
