By: Niall Rosenberg
ROCKFORD, Ill. — Rivets’ pitching dominated the quickest home game of the year.
After getting an off day for the first time since the All-Star break, the Rivets’ pitching controlled what was another great start from Andrew Alberts. In a game where Rockford took advantage of the mistakes made by the Kenosha Kingfish, leading to a close, low-scoring 5-3 win for the screws.
“A couple of weeks ago, we had some loud outs and some stuff not really go our way,” Head Coach Griffin Smith said. “We had to grow some resilience and we had to get some big things to happen.”
After four runs scored in the first three innings of Sunday’s game against the Battle Jacks, the first three and a half innings were scoreless. Not only were they scoreless, but only four baserunners reached in a quick 50-minute first third of the game.
The Rivets’ pitcher to dominate in the early part of the game was Alberts. He continues to pitch well in his last three starts for the Rivets.
In his last outing, he went seven innings, giving up just three runs. Tonight, he got through the first four with just 53 pitches.
“He’s uber intelligent with how he does things,” Smith said. “He’s a guy who, as he’s done throwing, he wants to go back and watch all of the stuff… He’s a student of the game, and he’s only going to continue to grow from here.”
Rockford got on the board first in the bottom half of the fourth. With Jackson Forbes (Arizona) on first, Collin Mowry (Louisville) smacked a double off the left field wall. With runners in scoring position, Drew Girtz (Behtel) hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Forbes.
Alberts faced his first jam at the top of the fifth. He faced five baserunners in the inning, with the bases loaded with two outs. Albert got the groundball to get out of the inning and kept the Kingfish scoreless.
The Rivets extended their lead in their half of the fifth inning. Collin Taylor (Los Angeles Valley CC) doubled to start the inning, followed by a single from Kenny Hirschfeld (Lackawanna CC) to put runners in scoring position with no outs.
Two batters later, Cooper Hinson (Marshall) hit a sacrifice groundout to bring the lead to two. Immediately after, Forbes hit an RBI single right back up the middle, making it 3-0.
As Alberts continued to lock down the Kingfish bats, the offense added another run to its lead. Mowry reached on an error and made his way to third with smart baserunning. He reached home on a wild pitch, bringing the run total to four.
Alberts day came to an end in the seventh. After getting the first out of the inning, he reached his one hundredth pitch with a runner on first, Smith decided to make the change. The left-hander had another great outing, going 6.1 IP with one run given up. He gave up two hits and five walks to his four strikeouts.
“I hate losing and seeing the team and the guys down after a loss, it’s something I hate,” Alberts said. “Anyway I can go compete, and go give us a chance to win is something that I always try to do.”
Kenosha cut the Rivets’ lead in half in its half of the seventh inning. After Alberts was pulled, Lance Mittelman (St. Peter’s) took over. He struggled, loading the bases and walking in two runs, with one being inherited. He got out of the bases-loaded jam to keep the Kingfish at two runs.
Rockford responded right back following the stretch. Ny’zaiah Thompson (Modesto) walked to begin the inning and got to third from an error on a Tate Shimao (Hawaii) single. Mowry hit an infield single to score Thompson, making the lead 5-2.
Smith acknowledged how important it was to take advantage of Kenosha’s mistakes.
“The best teams in sports take advantage of mistakes,” Smith said. “For us to take advantage of their errors was really, really big. That’s just what teams do. One guy messes up, you got to go all in and try to attack it.”
Errors cost the Rivets another run in the top of the eighth. After a leadoff single and a strikeout, a double play ball was fumbled by Forbes, allowing all runners to be safe. Rockford proceeded to get another groundball, getting the runner out on second, but the throw to first from Julian Aguilera (Ecclesia) airmailed Taylor, causing the runner on third to score.
Mittelman stayed in the game to finish off the Kingfish. He faced two baserunners in the ninth, but got the groundball to seal the Rivets’ second win in the last three games. Rivets’ pitching dominated in what was the quickest home game of the year for Rockford.
“We’re having a collective group of guys that want to be here every single day, want to get to work, not going to take advantage of any days and put their head down,” Smith said. “When you get a collective group that thinks like that, a lot of really good things can happen.”
The Rivets will travel to Kenosha for one game before going to Battle Creek for two. Its next home game will be on August 2, against the Growlers.
Fans can purchase tickets to Rivets games all season long at www.rockfordrivets.com.
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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.