LOVES PARK, Ill. – A pair of solid starting performances from Green Bay pitchers gave the Bullfrogs a doubleheader sweep of the Rockford Rivets on Sunday at Rivets Stadium.
The 5-0 and 8-4 Rockford losses dropped the first-place Rivets back into a tie with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters for the Northwoods League South Division lead. The Rafters were 5-1 winners on Sunday at Thunder Bay.
In the first game, Green Bay’s Harrisen Egly didn’t give up a hit until Troy Traxler’s one-out single in the fifth inning. Egly gave up only one more hit over his 5 2/3 innings and earned the win. Egly (4-2) struck out six and walked one.
Green Bay scored four unearned runs in the third inning. Two runs scored when Connor Perry dropped Marcus Shoemaker’s fly to right field. Quincy Nieporte followed with a two-run homer. The Rockford defense committed three errors behind starter Cory Wright (4-2), who didn’t give up an earned run and held the Bullfrogs to four hits over five innings, but took the loss.
In the nightcap, Green Bay starter Matt Ellenbest worked with a lead from the first inning on. Ellenbest (4-1) held the Rivets to two unearned runs on seven hits over six innings for the win.
Rockford starter Drake Robison gave up a two-run homer to Marcus Shoemaker in the first inning and a grand slam to Jonah Davis in the fifth. Robison (5-3) was tagged for eight runs on nine hits in four-plus innings in the loss.
The Rivets bats showed signs of life in the final inning. In the seventh, David Cronin and Ryan Long hit back-to-back home runs, a first in Rivets history.
The Rockford Rivets play the Wisconsin Woodchucks at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday at Rivets Stadium.
Rockford is a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, in its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets), Lucas Duda (Mets) and Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com. For more information, visit RockfordRivets.com.