Mckelvey Strikes Out Nine In Sixth Straight Victory
Northwoods Traverse City Pit Spitters

Mckelvey Strikes Out Nine In Sixth Straight Victory

July 19, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Traverse City Pit Spitters News Release


Traverse City, MI - A pair of three run innings launched the Traverse City Pit Spitters into the win column for the sixth straight night, taking care of the Battle Creek Battle Jacks 5-4, in front of 2,363 fans at Turtle Creek Stadium.

Traverse City continued to work in unison as they improved their record to 12 games above .500. Adam McKelvey's nine strikeout performance mixed with timely hitting allowed the Spitters to extend their winning streak to six, making it their second longest win streak of the season.

When there's been big innings, Cade Collins has played a big role in the success, and tonight he started off the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning. Later, Brooks Sartain joined in with a two-run single to left field to give the Spitters a 3-0 lead. With McKelvey dealing, he ran into trouble in the top of the fourth inning and Brendan Thompson made him pay with a bases clearing triple to pull the Battle Jacks within a run at 3-2. Battle Creek didn't stop there as Nathan Ball smacked a base hit to left field driving in the tying run to make it 3-3. Following the fifth inning, McKelvey was pulled from the game where he achieved a career high in strikeouts with nine, including a moment where he had five straight strikeouts over three innings. With the bullpens officially in control, Halen Otte hit a sacrifice fly, driving in the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning giving the Jacks a 4-3 lead. In the bottom half of the frame, the Spitters took advantage of sloppy defense from Battle Creek for the second night in a row. After a pair of lead off walks, a sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position. Collins came through with the first big knock driving in the tying run to make it 4-4. Carter Hain then dropped a sacrifice bunt where the go-ahead run scored, and during the play Collins went first to third and on the throw to third it was overthrown allowing him to scoring giving the Spitters a 6-4 lead.

Traverse City continues to improve to their best mark of the season at 31-19 overall and 10-6 in the second half while Battle Creek falls to 25-26 overall and 5-11 in the second half. Adam McKelvey (2-2) threw five innings striking out nine, walking five, and allowing three runs to score. Elijah Breault (1-2) threw two innings where he gave up two runs on a hit and two walks. Eliot Traver (1-0) earned his team leading sixth save of the season in an inning of scoreless work.

UP NEXT

The Spitters continue their eight-day home stand tomorrow afternoon with the start of a two-game series as the Kalamazoo Growlers come to town. First pitch is tomorrow night at 5:05 p.m. Broadcast coverage with Jackson Heiden will begin on the Northwoods League Sports Network at 5:00 p.m. on the Northwoods League + App.



Northwoods League Stories from July 19, 2025


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