Pit Spitters Surrender Five Unanswered Runs, Leprechauns Even Series
Northwoods Traverse City Pit Spitters

Pit Spitters Surrender Five Unanswered Runs, Leprechauns Even Series

Published on June 7, 2026 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Traverse City Pit Spitters News Release


Royal Oak, MI - June 7, 2026 - Despite outhitting Royal Oak 10-8 on Sunday afternoon, the Traverse City Pit Spitters dropped game two of their four-game set against the Leprechauns, 6-3, at Memorial Park.

Both teams entered the contest at 7-6, tied for second place in the Great Lakes East Division. With the win, Royal Oak moved one game ahead of Traverse City and into sole possession of second place.

With the series now even at one game apiece, the final two games will be played at Turtle Creek Stadium in Traverse City over the next two nights.

Each team struck early with a solo home run.

First, it was Royal Oak's Luke Kosko, who cleared the right-center field fence in the bottom of the second for his Northwoods League-leading fourth homer of the summer, giving the Leprechauns a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Traverse City leadoff hitter Ethan Guerra answered with a solo shot of his own, his first of 2026, to tie the game at 1-1.

The next batter, Aaron Grant, nearly made it back-to-back blasts for the Pit Spitters. Grant sent a deep fly ball to left field that had the distance, but Royal Oak left fielder Aamir Mitchell leaped against the short wall, flipped over outside of play, and held on for an unbelievable run-saving grab.

The starters settled into a Sunday afternoon duel from there. Leprechauns starter Michael Giroux exited after 3.1 innings with five strikeouts and no walks, while Pit Spitters right-hander Connor Kelly outlasted him, eventually finishing his day with two outs in the fifth.

With two outs in the fourth, Zach Carlson gave Traverse City the lead, ripping an RBI double off the center-field wall against reliever Brett Faccio. It marked Carlson's sixth RBI through five games and put the Pit Spitters in front, 2-1.

Faccio went on to earn the win in his first appearance of the summer, throwing 1.2 innings of relief.

From there, Royal Oak took control with five unanswered runs across three consecutive scoring frames.

The Leprechauns plated three in the bottom of the fifth against Kelly, with four straight baserunners reaching and three consecutive two-out RBI hits knocking the right-hander out of the game. Kelly struck out eight Leprechauns and allowed four earned runs, taking his first loss of the summer in his third appearance.

In the sixth, Mateo Noto added a sacrifice fly against reliever Cody Freitas. Royal Oak capped its scoring in the seventh with back-to-back two-out hits, including an RBI double from Tristan Crane, his second RBI of the day, to make it 6-2.

Cole Van Ameyde, Traverse City's first baseman, collected his third hit of the ballgame in the eighth, scoring Noah Gerrick to cut the deficit to 6-3.

For Traverse City, Freitas covered 2.1 innings out of the bullpen, while Kellen Payne handled a scoreless eighth.

Royal Oak turned to closer Kellen English in the top of the ninth with a three-run lead. English, the Leprechauns' fourth pitcher of the night, struck out the side to seal the victory and record his third save of the summer, tied for the league lead.

The Royal Oak pitching staff issued just one walk on the night.

Royal Oak now sits one game back of first-place Kalamazoo, while Traverse City falls two games back.

The Pit Spitters (7-7) and Leprechauns (8-6) will continue the series Monday night at Turtle Creek Stadium in Traverse City, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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Northwoods League Stories from June 7, 2026


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