TRAVERSE CITY - The Pit Spitters’ first game of the season ended in a 5-1 victory over the Rockford Rivets after a dominant mix from the offense and defense.
Aaron Forrest started on the hill for Traverse City and set the tone recording four strikeouts in five innings.
“In the bullpen I was able to get a feel for the pitches,” said Forrest. “I had all four working tonight, throwing it to both sides of the dish. You know, it’s usually a pretty good recipe for success when you got that going.”
“He was locating all of his pitches for strikes,” said field manager Josh Rebandt. “He rarely fell behind and got action early in the count, keeping our defense in it.”
The players behind the hill added to the strong defensive performance including a play from right field to get a Rivet out as he attempted a triple.
Offensively, the Pit Spitters found ways to score on mistakes made by the Rivets.
“We didn’t have a huge hit necessarily,” said Rebandt. “But it’s great because we scored some runs and that’s what great teams do is they just find a way to score.”
“I think we’ve got a little bit of swagger. You know, I think we’ve got a little bit of early game, late game aggressiveness,” said Forrest.
They look to bring the same energy in game two against the Rivets as the series continues on Tuesday, May 30.
