TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City Pit Spitters had no problem scoring on Tuesday.
And Max Hammond lit up the Rockford Rivets (25-40 overall, 12-21 second half) from the mound by striking out seven through 5 innings pitched. Hammond only allowed a run in the Pit Spitters’ 9-3 win over the Rivets at Turtle Creek Stadium.
Traverse City only has four more games remaining until the Northwoods League playoffs begin. The Pit Spitters (46-21, 25-8) have a 7-game lead on the Kalamazoo Growlers in the Great Lakes East subdivision second half of the season. The Spitters already clinched the first-half playoff spot and captured home-field advantage for the subdivisional round.
The Pit Spitters scored 4 runs in the bottom of the third to go ahead 4-0. The Rivets tacked on a run in the top of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough against the Spitters’ offense as they scored five runs to go up 9-1.
Hammond allowed three hits on 88 pitches thrown. Trent Reed came in to relieve Hammond, throwing for an inning, and didn’t allow a run.
The Rivets tacked on two runs in the top of the eighth inning to make it 9-3, but it wouldn’t be enough to mount a comeback against the Pit Spitters.
Traverse City travels to Kenosha for Wednesday and Thursday.