Spitters Fall Behind Early and Fail to Recover

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Northwoods Traverse City Pit Spitters

Spitters Fall Behind Early and Fail to Recover

June 23, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Traverse City Pit Spitters News Release


Battle Creek, MI - The Traverse City Pit Spitters lose the first game of the two-game series to the Battle Creek Battle Jacks, 11-4.

Starting pitching has been a struggle for the Pit Spitters early on in games as of late, and the trend continued tonight as Jack Griffiths only lasted an inning. The Battle Jacks drew a walk and had another guy reach base on an error. Down to his final strike, Caleb Estrada doubled down the right field run to score a pair of runs to give the Battle Jacks a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. After the hit, a couple of walks helped load the bases. Ty Tomlinson singled to right field scoring another two runs to make it 4-0. Brian Heckelman then scored on a wild pitch to push the Battle Jacks lead to 5-0.

Needing to get the offense going, the Pit Spitters drew back-to-back walks with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Cade Collins drove in the first run of the night with a single to right field to bring the score to 5-1. Issac Sturgess extended his hitting streak to eight with an RBI single to make it 5-2. Brett Rozman then grounded into a fielder's choice allowing another run to come across the plate making it 5-3. Max Hammond replaced Trent Reed in the bottom of the fifth inning after three scoreless innings. A single and a walk to open the inning put the Battle Jacks offense right back into action. Heckelman hit a sacrifice flyout to drive in another run extending the Battle Jacks lead to 6-3. Joshua Algarin then singled to right field scoring a couple of runs to erase what the Pit Spitters had made up making it an 8-3 game.

The Battle Jacks were able to put together another big offensive inning against Hammond in the bottom of the sixth. A walk and a single set up the Battle Jacks for success with just one out. Heckelman continued his great night at the plate with a single to left field scoring a pair of runs to push their lead to 10-3. Hunter Smolinski capped off the scoring with a single to left field to bring the game to 11-3. The Pit Spitters only scored one more run in the top of the seventh inning on an Aaron Piasecki stolen base to bring the game to its final score of 11-4.

The Pit Spitters loss brings their record to 15-13 on the year and are now sitting in second place behind Battle Creek. They'll look to make up their loss tomorrow night in the series finale. First pitch is 6:35 p.m.



Northwoods League Stories from June 23, 2025


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