
Strong Outing from Hutchings Leads Rivets to Victory
July 23, 2021 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Rockford Rivets News Release
Rivets starter Payton Hutchings (Fr, Illinois) turned in his best outing of the season, helping Rockford to a much needed 9-2 victory over the Kenosha Kingfish on Friday night at Rivets Stadium. The win improves Rockford's record to 7-9 in the 2nd half prior to a four game road trip.
After the Rivets fell behind 8-0 after two innings in yesterday's 10-3 loss to the Kingfish, Hutchings flipped the script, dealing 6 innings of shutout ball while striking out 6 - including his Fighting Illini teammate and league batting average leader Justin Janas (Fr, Illinois) twice.
Rockford gave Hutchings some early run support in the 2nd inning. Johannes Haakenson (Jr, Concordia-Wisconsin) started the scoring with an RBI triple, and Jake Donahue (Fr, Central Michigan) followed with a well-executed safety squeeze to open a 2-0 lead.
Two batters later, Phil Matulia (Jr, Louisiana Tech) drove a 3-run home run over the right center field wall to make it a 5 spot. Matulia leads the Rivets with 6 homers this summer.
Matulia continued his big day with a double in the 5th inning, which eventually resulted in the Rivets' 6th run of the evening, as Brody Harding (So, Illinois) scored Matulia on a sac fly.
Kenosha didn't score until the 7th inning, pushing across a run off Jake Armstrong (R-So, UW-Milwaukee) via an RBI double.
The Rivets roared back with three more runs in the bottom of the 7th, scoring on an error, passed ball and an RBI single from Haakenson.
Tanner Mink (R-Fr, South Florida) closed the game for the Rivets, allowing 1 run in the 8th before recording a scoreless 9th to end the contest.
Rockford will depart for Traverse City tomorrow to begin a 2-game series with the Pit Spitters at 6:05 CT.
Northwoods League Stories from July 23, 2021
- Booyah Shutout Bombers, Win Third Straight - Green Bay Rockers
- Kingfish Fall to Rockford in Series Finale - Kenosha Kingfish
- Pit Spitters Squander Late Opportunities in Sweep - Traverse City Pit Spitters
- Estridge Dominates on the Mound as Bombers Fall to Green Bay 7-0 - Battle Creek Battle Jacks
- Resilient Rox Pull out Sweep of Bucks for Third Straight Win - St. Cloud Rox
- Stingers' First Walk-Off Win Caps off Sweep of Mud Puppies - Willmar Stingers
- Larks Have the High Ground in 13-4 Win - Bismarck Larks
- Honkers Take Back and Forth Slugfest to Sweep Series - Rochester Honkers
- Mallards Drop Finale against Kalamazoo in Extras - Madison Mallards
- MoonDogs Out-Slug Express to Grab Second Straight Sweep - Mankato MoonDogs
- Dock Spiders Blank Rafters, Wisconsin Rapids Takes Two of Three in Homestand - Wisconsin Rapids Rafters
- Woodchucks Outslugged by Lakeshore - Wausau Woodchucks
- Strong Outing from Hutchings Leads Rivets to Victory - Rockford Rivets
- Booyah in Search for Third Straight Win - Green Bay Rockers
- Mallards Look for Another Sweep of Growlers - Madison Mallards
- Bats Go Silent After Hot Start, Loggers Fall 6-2 - La Crosse Loggers
- Huskies Drop Third Straight in Downpour - Duluth Huskies
- Larks Swim Past Huskies: Bismarck Larks - Bismarck Larks
- Rockford Stumbles Early, Falls to Kenosha - Rockford Rivets
- MoonDogs Edge Express in Mankato Thursday Night - Mankato MoonDogs
- Kingfish Defeat Rockford in First Game Back from All-Star Break - Kenosha Kingfish
- Growlers Fall Just Short against Mallards - Kalamazoo Growlers
- Honkers Use Solid Pitching Performance to Take Series Opener with La Crosse - Rochester Honkers
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Other Recent Rockford Rivets Stories
- Rivets Pull Away Late to Beat First Place Leprechauns
- Huge Fifth Inning Leads to Rivets Blowout Loss to Pit Spitters
- Rivets Blow out Pit Spitters Behind Raineri's Dominant Debut, Late Offensive Surge
- Rivets vs Growlers Postponed to Doubleheader July 12 Due to Field Conditions
- Nightmare First Inning Dooms Rivets in Rain-Shortened Blowout Loss to Growlers

