MADISON, Wisconsin — Ethan Guerra liked the first pitch he saw in the top of the ninth inning. He liked that first pitch so much that he sent it on a first-class flight over the right-field fence for a game-winning two-run home run.
Guerra’s longball, which came after a three-run top of the eighth inning tied the game, vaulted the Traverse City Pit Spitters to a 7-5 win over the Madison Mallards at Warner Park on Thursday.
The Pit Spitters are now 12-6 in the second half of the Northwoods League season and 29-24 overall.
They remain in the hunt to win the Great Lakes East Division for the second half, which would secure Traverse City a playoff berth. They remain in second place in the overall standings to first-half champion Rockford, which would also secure their spot in the postseason.
Trailing 1-0 in the third, the Pit Spitters got on the board and took back the early lead after a two-out, two-RBI single from JT Sokolove plated Guerra and Aaron Piasecki.
The Mallards added two in the fifth and two more in the sixth to move ahead 5-2, but the playoff-hopeful Pit Spitters had some offense left in them.
Guerra led off the eighth inning with a walk, and it seemed as if that would go for naught after Piasecki flied out to left and Vahn Lackey flied out to center.
Sokolove kept the inning alive with a four-pitch walk, and Brett Denby tallied an infield single to load the bases for Ethan Belk.
Belk took the first pitch he saw for a ball and then rifled a bases-clearing triple to right, driving in three and tying the game at 5-5.
Caleb Reed shut down the Mallards in the top of the eighth to keep the momentum with the Pit Spitters, leaving the door open for Guerra’s home run heroics in the ninth.
After Michael Tchavdarov grounded out to first, Brett Rozman walked to put a man on base for Guerra. And Guerra didn’t waste any time, drilling Liam McKillop’s first offering for a homer.
Mason Hill locked down the ninth for the save, walking one and striking out one without allowing a hit.
Reed got the win in relief for Traverse City. Jake Brown took the no-decision, tossing five innings and allowing three runs on six hits and six walks with three strikeouts.
The Pit Spitters and Mallards meet for game two of the two-game series Friday at 6:35 p.m. Collin Bradley (1-0, 2.89 ERA) toes the rubber for Traverse City against Madison’s Elliot Cadieux Lanoue (1-1, 4.03 ERA).
Traverse City then has two crucial games at Rockford on Saturday and Sunday as the Pit Spitters stay in the race for first place in the second-half standings.
Both games take place at Rockford Stadium in Illinois with 6:35 p.m. start times.
The Northwoods League All-Star festivities kick off with the Home Run Challenge on Monday in Mankato, Minnesota, followed by the All-Star game Tuesday.
After a day off Wednesday, the Pit Spitters enter the home stretch of the Northwoods League season with four home games — two with the Kalamazoo Growlers on July 25-26 and two with Battle Creek Battle Jacks on July 27-28.
The July 26 game against the Growlers features the 1K Beer Run. The $30 registration includes a box seat to the game, three 12-ounce domestic beers, a commemorative Pit Spitters pint glass and a postgame 1K run on the field before the Friday fireworks show.