Pit Spitters Walk-off Growlers, Sweep Rivalry Series in Wild Comeback Win
Northwoods Traverse City Pit Spitters

Pit Spitters Walk-off Growlers, Sweep Rivalry Series in Wild Comeback Win

Published on July 3, 2026 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Traverse City Pit Spitters News Release


Traverse City, MI - Down to their final out and trailing by a run in the ninth inning, the Traverse City Pit Spitters found one more dramatic swing in front of their largest home crowd of 2026: 4,087 fans.

After falling behind 5-0 early, Traverse City rallied all the way back and scored twice with two outs in the ninth to walk off the Kalamazoo Growlers, 7-6, on Friday night at Turtle Creek Stadium.

The win completed a two-game sweep of Kalamazoo and moved the Pit Spitters to 3-0 in the second half.

Traverse City has now won seven straight games against the Growlers and clinched the 12-game season series. The Pit Spitters also extended their home winning streak to 12 games, improving to 16-3 at Turtle Creek Stadium in 2026.

Kalamazoo pushed five runs across through the first four innings against three Traverse City pitchers. Starter Benjamin Green surrendered two runs, Jake Brown allowed three, and Mason Compton hurled a scoreless frame.

The Pit Spitters began chipping away with three unanswered runs, scoring once in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

Aaron Grant opened the scoring for Traverse City with an RBI single, Zach Kucharczyk followed with an RBI groundout, and Ethan Guerra later scored on a wild pitch to cut into the deficit.

Kalamazoo answered with one run in the seventh, its final run of the game, against Alex Alberico to make it 6-3. Alberico delivered the longest outing of the night among Traverse City's six pitchers, working three innings. Josh Klug also pitched 1.1 scoreless frames.

Traverse City pushed closer in the bottom of the seventh, scoring twice to make it a one-run game. Colin Sander delivered a run-scoring single, and Guerra lifted a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 6-5.

Charlie Wolf held the line in the ninth with a scoreless inning, keeping the Pit Spitters within one and eventually earning his fourth win of the summer.

Then came the finish.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Sander roped a single to score Jacob Kucharczyk and tie the game. Moments later, Sander came around as the winning run when Guerra put the ball in play and forced an E6, with the throw skipping past the first baseman into foul ground to seal the walk-off win.

Traverse City finished with 11 hits, including nine against Growlers All-Star starting pitcher RJ Anglin, who went 6.1 innings and allowed four earned runs.

Sean Martinez led the Pit Spitters with three hits, while Sander, Grant, and Guerra each added two. Sander was the lone Pit Spitter with multiple RBI, driving in two.

The Pit Spitters (3-0) will head to Richmond for a two-game set against the Flying Mummies on Saturday and Sunday before the Northwoods League All-Star break.

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Northwoods League Stories from July 3, 2026


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