Growlers Fall in Regular Season Finale, Lose I-94 Rivalry Cup
Northwoods Kalamazoo Growlers

Growlers Fall in Regular Season Finale, Lose I-94 Rivalry Cup

Published on August 9, 2025 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Kalamazoo Growlers News Release


KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Kalamazoo Growlers (37-35; 20-17) fell to the Battle Creek Battle Jacks (33-39; 13-24) in the regular season and series finale, in which Battle Creek took home the I-94 Rivalry Cup for the first time since 2017.

Battle Creek would get on the board first with a run in the second, off Kalamazoo starter Will Juday, and would add three in the third and fourth off Drew Duckhorn and Gage Vota respectively. Hudson Lubbers would pitch a scoreless fifth and sixth, before Ben Van Nes would allow a run in the seventh. Trevor Johnson would score the only run for Kalamazoo in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff home run. Both teams would go scoreless in the eighth and ninth to end in an 8-1 final.

The star of the game was Battle Creek's Anthony Sanchez, who threw eight innings of one run ball while striking out eight Growlers. Sanchez completed his second consecutive start throwing seven or more innings while allowing two runs or less. The outing for Sanchez was an amazing exclamation point on the Battle Jacks season.

Battle Creeks season ends taking home the I-94 Rivalry Cup for the first time since 2017, as Ben Harley puts a punctuation mark on his 2025 season, where the Jacks were in contention for the first half playoff spot until the final day.

Kalamazoo employed a strategy of preservation, aiming to keep every arm that threw under 35 pitches to allow the freshest bullpen as possible in game one of the playoffs on Sunday. Kalamazoo has not yet announced starter for the first game of their playoff run against Traverse City. Game one is schedule for Sunday evening with a 5:05 p.m. ET first pitch. The game will be available on Northwoods League +.

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