Defending champion Pit Spitters lose at home to Kalamazoo; season ends after 9-5 defeat

Aug. 16—TRAVERSE CITY — In a must-win Game two for the 2021 defending Northwoods League champions at Turtle Creek Stadium, the Traverse City Pit Spitters did what they could to push it to a Game three. But it wasn't enough.

After blowing a lead in game one on Sunday, the Pit Spitters fell victim to Kalamazoo's four-run sixth inning that gave the Growlers the sweep and advanced them to the next round with a 9-5 victory.

The Growlers got the best of the Pit Spitters' pitching, which had guided Traverse City all through the second half of the season led by pitcher Aaron Forrest. Despite his dominance in the regular season, he gave up four runs within a span of five innings on 81 pitches.

Pitcher Anthony Ramirez came in for Forrest in the sixth after Traverse City tacked on two runs to tie the win-or-go-home ballgame at 4-4 in the fifth. But the bats of the Growlers came alive. Left fielder Zach Dykstra and second basemen Anthony Stephan started it with a pair of RBI singles to push them in from 6-4.

"Everybody's high energy, everybody was locked in even more; so you know with playoffs being the title of the game that there's a lot at stake," Forrest said. "They were seeing the ball well, and whether the pitches that I made were quality or not, they were on it."

While it didn't stop there for the Growlers, center fielder Banks Tolley — who finished the night with four RBI, tacked on his fourth RBI after a two-run double to push it to 8-4. The Growlers mustered another run in the seventh to extend the lead to 9-4, but the Spitters didn't give up the entire game.

Traverse City had multiple attempts at a lead. Late-July roster addition, Glenn Miller, tacked on a two-run RBI double in the third that gave the Spitters their first pair of runs. But Kalamazoo answered quickly. The Pit Spitters tied it up at 4-4 after Colin Summerhill and Camden Traficante's RBI singles, but Traverse City couldn't get back into it.

Kalamazoo starting pitcher Tanner Knapp made things difficult for the Spitters, despite giving up four runs and seven hits. The Kalamazoo defense was dazzling and made Knapp's outing look outstanding.

"I feel like we competed in the box today. And I think they just did the same thing. We had something go our way, and they had some just very timely hitting," Traficante said. "That's what led them to rise on top and be the winners at the end of the day"

The Spitters had a chance to bring in runs in the seventh after loading up the bases with two outs. Sam Tackett sent a shot to left field for an RBI single to make it 9-5, but Growlers' reliever Tyler Johnson — after giving up the run— struck out Miller.

Traverse City finished the regular season 45-27 after a dominating second half of the season with a 27-9 record. Many of the Spitters players noted that while the season ended not the way everyone wanted, there is a positive outlook to an experience in the Northwoods.

The Northwoods is a college development program where college baseball players around the U.S get a chance to come out and play 72 games while living life like a minor leaguer. Some of the Pit Spitters said they have taken something out of playing this summer to better their game at their respective colleges.

The Spitters built a culture that left many of the players in tears after the game.

Trey Truitt III— who was a part of the 2021 championship team — had his voice choke up a couple of times when talking about the good memories that were built with the 2022 Pit Spitters team.

Records were broken, and bonds were built that won't be forgotten. That's how many of the Spitters described the last moments with the team. Traficante considered playing for the Spitters "is to play for family,".

Traficante broke the Spitters franchise stolen base record with 28 — previously 26.

The end goal for the Spitters was to win the title, but to win back-to-back takes a lot of focus because everyone wants to beat you.

"I mean it's incredibly hard," Truitt III said. "Everybody's coming after you. They even saw tonight, all of Kalamazoo's pitchers were in there battling their butts off. And that's how it was in every game."

The first-half regular season champion Growlers during the second half of the season went 14-21. Many of the Spitters players noted, in baseball, anything can happen.

Kalamazoo will take on the winner of Wausau Woodchucks versus Wisconsin Rapids as that game is heading to a winner-take-all after the Woodchucks dominated the Rapids 11-1.