Spitters Winning Streak Snapped

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Northwoods Traverse City Pit Spitters

Spitters Winning Streak Snapped

July 4, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Traverse City Pit Spitters News Release


Kalamazoo, MI - The Traverse City Pit Spitters snapped their eight-game winning streak in an unfortunate blowout loss to the Kalamazoo Growlers Thursday evening at Homer Stryker Field.

The Growlers, who are coming of a road trip to forget, scored 14-runs in the opening game against the Pit Spitters, snapping their six-game losing streak that carried over from the first half.

With the game scoreless entering the bottom of the second inning, the Growlers took advantage of weak command from starting pitcher Kellen Roberts with a lead-off walk followed by a hit-by pitch. A couple of wild pitches from Roberts didn't help his cause as it allowed both runners to put themselves in scoring position. Growlers used three-infield base hits, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice groundout to plate themselves five runs in the bottom of the second inning making it 5-0. Charlie Horne replaced Roberts on the mound after two-innings of work, and it was the same outcome for the Growlers bats. Capitalized by an RBI-double from Antonio Perrotta, the Growlers were able to score two runs in the bottom of the third inning to extend their lead over the Pit Spitters 7-0. Pitching command continued to lack into the bottom of the fifth inning as Horne walked a couple of batters and hit a batter. Matthew Thompson cleared the bases with a grand slam to deep center field to further extend the Growlers lead to 11-0. The Growlers were able to hold the Pit Spitters scoreless until the top of the seventh inning when Trent Reed recorded his first hit of the season that resulted in an RBI-double to make it 11-1. Jaylen Merchant entered the ballgame in the bottom of the seventh inning and things continued to go south for the Spitters pitching staff. Merchant walked two and allowed a single to load the bases. Merchant then hit a batter and threw two wild pitches to allow three more runners to score to give the Growlers a 14-1 lead. Down to their final three outs of the ballgame, the Spitters scratched across one final run on a wild pitch thrown by Wilson Kruse to give the game it's final score of 14-2.

The Pit Spitters fall to 23-14 and 2-1 in the second half, while the Growlers secure their first win in the second half moving their record to 1-2 and 18-20 overall. Roberts (2-3) loses his third game of the year while Jack Crittendon (5-0) wins his fifth game of the year. He now leads the Great Lakes Division in wins.

UP NEXT

The Pit Spitters continue their seven-game, six-day road trip, as they finish their series in Kalamazoo taking on the Growlers Friday night at 6:35 p.m. Broadcast coverage can be found on the Northwoods League Plus App with pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m.



Northwoods League Stories from July 4, 2025


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