KALAMAZOO — The Traverse City Pit Spitters are coming home with a 1-0 series lead.
The Pit Spitters racked up 17 hits to defeat Kalamazoo 6-1 in Sunday’s Northwoods League divisional playoff series opener at Homer Stryker Field in Kalamazoo.
Starting pitcher Nic Mirabella twirled six strong innings of one-run ball with a half dozen strikeouts. Kalamazoo’s only run, in the fifth frame, was unearned.
Drew Ferguson earned the save with three hitless innings, allowing only one walk and striking out three.
Traverse City hosts the Growlers for game two of the best-of-three series Monday at 7:05 p.m. at Turtle Creek Stadium. Game three would be Tuesday, if necessary.
The Spitters’ offense produced 17 hits, including four by leadoff hitter Jacob Kucharczyk and three each by Grady Mee, Cole Prout and Jake McNamara.
Traverse City wasted no time, scoring twice in the first inning as Isaac Sturgess singled in Kucharczyk and Prout singled in Mee.
Sturgess and Prout again came through in the fourth inning, with Sturgess driving in Alfredo Velazquez with a single to right field and Prout’s double to bringing in Mee, Sturgess and Kucharczyk.
Sturgess and Velazquez each logged two hits.
The Spitters and Growlers met up five times previously in the NWL playoffs, with TC taking four of those matchups. Kalamazoo did also knock off the Spitters in 2020, but that was the Mac Daddies team created for pod play during the Covid-19 pandemic, and not the Growlers.
Green Bay beat Wausau 8-1 in the other Great Lakes playoff series opener. Duluth and Mankato won the two Great Plains matchups to take 1-0 series leads.