By: Emily Tuttle

ROCKFORD, Ill. — On a sunny Kids Day at Rivets Stadium, campers from the local area got to watch the Rockford Rivets in a morning special, the first of a doubleheader against the Kalamazoo Growlers. With some pitching troubles from usual dealers, the Rivets fell 15-7 in game one of the day.

The Rivets finally slashed their losing streak against the Growlers the previous night in a matchup cut short after 5.5 innings due to weather. This bright sunny day, though, couldn’t extend the Rivet’s winning form.

The Growlers have walked the most in the Northwoods League this season, and they continued in their pattern today against Rivets starter Keith Eusebio.

Coming into the game, Eusebio was not keen on giving free passes, only walking 11 in his 23 innings pitched. Today, he walked six. He went only two innings, whereas in his last outing, he tossed 80 pitches.

Eusebio struggled with his control—uncharacteristic for the righty two-way player. He reached the 35-pitch limit in the second inning and earned five runs. 

The Growlers took advantage of Eusebio’s off day. After their leadoff batter grounded out in the first, Eusebio’s second pitch to the second batter went yard over the right-field wall. A couple of hits later, Eusebio covered first to make the final out of the inning, and the Growlers were up four. 

Throughout the outing, the Growlers garnered walk after walk and hit pitches well. 

The Rivets added on a couple in the fifth when Beau Bloxdorf hit a leadoff single, his first hit as a Rivet. Bloxdorf was 2-for-4 on the night, also reaching on an error and gaining a walk. With Bloxdorf on first, Jackson Forbes added a single of his own before Connor Kave walked. With the bases loaded, Zan Von Schlegell turned a sac fly to clear the bases, thanks to an error from the Growler’s catcher. 

Though the Rivets scored four runs in the inning and added singles in the seventh and eighth, it wasn’t enough to combat Kalamazoo’s 15 runs. 

Even the campers at the stadium for Kid’s Day were enticed by the Growlers lead, especially those behind Kalamazoo’s dugout. The visitors started ‘Let’s go Growlers’ chants with the kids, and the young crowd—lacking some good old-fashioned loyalty—turned their cheers toward Kalamazoo.

The men in the dugout had smiles on their faces, happy to have turned the stadium against its Rivets with the use of some young ones. But Rally the Rivetsourous, the Rivet’s faithful mascot did his best to teach the kids who was worth rooting for. 

But the pitching struggles made their way to the entire staff. Though Jimmy Amptmann made his debut with three strikeouts and no runs, he gave up two walks. Ben Buehering, the Rivets’ usual closer, entered in the fifth. Buehring was tied for most strikeouts in the league entering this game, but gave up two in just one inning.

The Rivets walked 15 batters on the day. 

“How many you walk usually comes back as how many runs you give up too,” Rivets’ manager Bob Koopmann said. 

George Gouriotis closed out the game for the Rivs in his tenth appearance of the season. He put up ones in all the following categories: earned runs, walks and strikeouts. 

“George has been great,” Koopmann said. “He eats innings and saves a couple more pitches he can throw in the second game.”

Going through five arms in the first game of a doubleheader wasn’t ideal for the staff, but they will have newcomer Brady Louck on the mound for the second game. The squad will look to quickly flush this loss and gather thoughts for their upcoming game. 

“They’ve been able to do that this year—shake it from one game to the next,” Koopmann said.

They will be back on the diamond after a short break, hoping for some redemption and to reclaim their home stadium against the Growlers at 6:35 pm.