By: Kyle Tausk
ROCKFORD, Ill. — The Rivets’ struggles continued back in Rockford.
After the Leprechauns (16-19) took both games over the Rivets (13-18) in Royal Oak the last two days, the two teams met again at Rivets Stadium on Sunday with similar results, a dominant 14-2 victory by the Leprechauns. The Leprechauns imposed their will on the Rivets early, storming out to a 12-run lead after four innings and maintaining control throughout the evening, handing the Rivets their tenth loss in their last 11 games.
“We’ve played well in the last two weeks and lost. We’ve played bad and lost,” head coach Chase Brewster said. “We’ve just found ways to lose and it’s really unfortunate, but we’ve prepared the same way we did when we were in first place.”
The Leprechauns struck first in the first inning off Rivets starter Ben Catrambone (Limestone), but Catrambone was able to minimize the damage in what could’ve easily been a crushing opening frame after the first three hitters all reached on a hit by pitch and a pair of walks to load the bases. Royal Oak scored once on a sacrifice fly, but that was all they got to get things started.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite as lucky in the second. The first two Royal Oak hitters reached on back-to-back singles, and both came around to score — the first on a second sacrifice fly and the second on an RBI single. The Leprechauns recorded four hits in the inning, the start of an early hit parade at the plate.
The first two Leprechaun hitters again reached to begin the third on singles off Aidan Wagley (Ecclesia), who took over on the mound. A balk and a groundout allowed a fourth run to score before the Leprechauns hit their seventh and eighth singles of the first three innings — the latter an infield hit that scored two — to take a 7-0 lead. Wagley finally ended the inning with a strikeout on his 43rd pitch.
The barrage just kept on coming from there. The Leprechauns put together another four-run inning in the fourth on three walks, a hit by pitch and two more singles off Jake Gibson (Dayton State) to extend their commanding lead to 11. Royal Oak’s lineup was relentless in the early innings, sending all nine hitters to the plate in back-to-back innings while totaling 11 runs on ten hits and seven walks before the fourth inning was complete.
“I don’t know if some of our guys are tired or just burned out from innings in the spring and summer, but we’re starting to get some uncharacteristic results from some of the guys who have been good all summer,” Brewster said. “It just was what it was, unfortunately.”
After the Leprechauns plated a twelfth run in the fifth on a fielder’s choice, the Rivets finally got on the board in the home half off Leprechauns starter Justin Brown, who otherwise looked dominant with seven strikeouts across five innings of work. Jackson Forbes (Arizona) led off the inning with a double — the Rivets’ first extra base hit of the evening — and came around to score on an error shortly after. A second run scored later in the inning on an RBI groundout by Harrison Bowman (Troy).
Forbes led the way for Rockford’s offense on an otherwise mostly quiet night, notching two of their six hits and scoring one of their two runs.
“You can look at Jackson and just see that he’s a four, maybe five-tool player and he’s a super athlete,” Brewster said. “He hasn’t played as much as some other guys, so he’s behind in at bats. He’s going to catch up eventually.”
Porter Conn (Kansas) finally tossed the Rivets’ first scoreless inning of the game in the sixth after the Leprechauns scored each of their first five times at the plate. The Rivets had a chance to chip away at the big deficit in the bottom of the inning after loading the bases, but Leprechauns pitcher Wyatt Ruppenthal struck out three to escape the inning unscathed.
Conn ended up lasting four innings allowing just one run, giving the Rivets’ pitching staff that has been worked into the ground over the last two weeks some much-neeed length. Tate Shimao (Hawaii) — usually at second base — was called on to pitch the ninth, during which the Leprechauns tacked on two more runs that were helped by a pair of errors.
The damage had already been done long before that, though, as the Rivets failed to score the rest of the night — leaving the bases loaded again in the bottom of the ninth — and fell in blowout fashion. The Rivets left 18 men on base in total, scoring just twice.
The Rivets’ pitching staff has now allowed at least 11 runs in all three games thus far in the four-game home-and-home series against Royal Oak. In what has been a frustrating two weeks for Rockford, Sunday’s twelve-run drubbing was one of the ugliest nights of all.
With the Northwoods League’s first half set to end on Monday, the Rivets will have the chance to turn the page with a clean slate to start July on Tuesday. First, though, they’ll close out the first half against the Leprechauns on Monday at 6:05 p.m.
“I don’t really know how to stop the bleeding, to be honest with you, other than to just try to get to Tuesday,” Brewster said.
Fans can purchase tickets for Rivets games all season long at www.rockfordrivets.com.
###
The Rockford Rivets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 31st season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 26 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, 360 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TEX), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (STL) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at watch.northwoodsleague.com), ESPN+, and the Northwoods League Network. Learn more and find complete streaming schedules at watchnwl.com. 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.