The Rockford Rivets were back at home on Saturday night to take on the visiting Traverse City Pit Spitters. The final score was not in favor of the home side, as they were defeated by a score of 11-6. Pitchers of record in the contest were Andrew Hoffman with the win and Jarret Olson with the loss. Hoffman’s record now sits at a sparkling 7-0, as Olson’s now stands at an even 2-2 mark.
It was a great start for Rockford, as power hitter Jake Vander Wal stepped into the box in the 1st inning. He has been on a tear at the dish lately, and that did not stop here on Saturday night. He launched his sixth long ball of the season out to the right field party porch scoring Tom Josten. This put the Rivets out to an early 2-0 lead, but they were unable to lock it down on defense.
Jarret Olson had seemed to settle into a nice groove through the first three innings of the contest. He had not allowed a hit to this point, but that was not the case in the 4th. He allowed a home run to opposing first baseman Jake Arnold. This was Arnold’s first long ball of the year. The Pit Spitters would not look back in this one, as they went on to score a total of nine more runs in the contest.
Olson’s final line on the evening was 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, and 8 K. His season stats are still respectable, as he owns a 2-2 record to go along with a 3.72 ERA and 31 strikeouts across 29 innings pitched.
The offensive bright spots in the match-up were outfielder Jake Vander Wal and second baseman Tom Josten. Vander Wal as previously mentioned knocked his 6th home run early on in the contest, which he now pairs with 28 RBI on the season. Tom Josten, of the University of Central Florida had two hits on the night with two runs scored and a run batted in. Josten now has 18 runs knocked in on the season.
The Rivets look to avenge the loss to the Pit Spitters on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 as they look to gain ground back in the second half playoff hunt.
The Rockford Rivets 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.
