KENOSHA, Wisconsin — A four-run lead slipped away late as the Traverse City Pit Spitters dropped one on the road against the Kenosha Kingfish on Thursday.
The Pit Spitters drop to 9-8 in the Great Lakes East Division with the 7-6 extra-inning loss at Simmons Field, breathing some life into the reeling Kingfish (9-8) who had lost three straight coming into Thursday’s contest.
The Spitters, Kingfish and Battle Creek Battle Jacks are all tied for third place in the GLE as the Rockford Rivets hold steady in first at 12-5 followed by Kalamazoo in second at 9-7.
Traverse City jumped out to a big lead thanks to a five-run fourth inning and pushed the lead to 6-0 with a run in the fifth.
But Kenosha scored two in the bottom of the sixth to get back within striking distance at 6-2. The Kingfish pushed four across in their half of the eighth to tie the game and eventually force action into the 10th.
The Pit Spitters went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th, unable to even move their extra-inning runner to third base.
Kenosha didn’t have to do much in the bottom of the frame as Mitchell Grannan threw just two pitches — a swinging strike on Tanner Reaves and then a passed ball that got away and allowed DJ Ghiorso to score from second base and give the Kingfish the wild walkoff victory.
Grannan took the loss, falling to 0-1. Carson Fischer took the hard-luck no-decision, going six strong innings and allowing the two runs on two hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
Santiago Garcia was responsible for all four Kenosha runs scored in the eighth, although none were earned after a costly error on Aaron Piasecki allowed two to score and later led to a Karter Wong two-RBI single to tie the game at 6-6.
The Pit Spitters plated five in the fourth and looked well on their way to a road win in the GLE.
Brett Denby singled and Piasecki walked to put the first two aboard in the fourth. JT Sokolove laid down a sacrifice bunt to move them into scoring position, but Cole Prout hit a short flyout to left that wasn’t deep enough to score Denby. A wild pitch to Vahn Lackey scored the first run with two outs, and then Lackey singled to drive in Piasecki for the 2-0 lead.
After Carter Hain reached on an error, Ethan Belk deposited the second pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a three-run homer and a 5-0 score in favor of the Pit Spitters.
An RBI single from Sokolove to score Brandon Chang made it 6-0, but that was the end of the night for the Pit Spitters’ offense as the Kingfish scored seven unanswered.
The Pit Spitters look to bounce back after the tough loss when they close out their brief two-game visit to Kenosha on Friday. Aaron Forrest (0-2, 4.09 ERA) gets the start for Traverse City with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.