All-Star Game - Past Games

2010 All-Star Game Recap

The fans in attendance of the 2010 Northwoods All-Star Game at Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin were treated to a fantastic game.  The North Division All-Stars took the game 7-5 over the South All-Stars in front of a crowd just shy of 4,000 fans.  The North’s Cody Asche (Nebraska) of the Duluth Huskies was the ‘Star of Stars’ in the game for going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two RBI and helping the North to victory. 

The game began with South starting pitcher Tony Mueller (Winona State) of the La Crosse Loggers allowing two unearned runs to put the South behind 2-0.  However, Mueller struck out four batters in the inning due to a dropped third strike.  The South roared back with two runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 2-2. 

Green Bay's Brad Zapenas led the South squad, knocking in a pair of runs as part of a 2-for-4 night. Eau Claire's Steve McGuiggan led the host Express, reaching base twice on a hit by pitch while scoring the game-tying run in sixth inning to make it a 5-5 game.

The North came back with a pair of runs in the seventh to go up 7-5. The South did manage to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but were unable to come up with a tying hit.

Five All-Stars had multi-hit games on the night.  The South's Kyle Gaedele was 3-for-4 on the night while Mallard teammate Harold Riggins had a two hit performance.  Brad Zapenas of the Bullfrogs also had two hits.  The North's Jordan Steranka (Mankato) and Matt Dittman (Rochester) both had two hits to go along with Cody Asche's performance. 

22 pitchers threw in the game with Arik Sikula (Marshall) earning the win while fellow Rochester Honker teammate and Marshall teammate Ian Kadish earned the save throwing a scoreless ninth inning for the North.  Joe Battistelli (Eastern Michigan) took the loss for the South allowing two runs on two hits.

2010 Home Run Derby

The 2010 Northwoods Home Run Derby was hosted by the Eau Claire Express at Carson Park prior to the All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 20th. The Home Run Derby consisted of eight players across the Northwoods League and was headlined by 2009 winner Harold Riggins (NC State) of the Madison Mallards. Duluth Huskie Mark Threlkeld (Louisiana Tech) won the 2010 Home Run Derby over Madison Mallard Kyle Gaedele (Valparaiso) with a towering shot to left field in the final round. 

The participants from the North Division were Duluth Huskies teammates Cody Asche (Nebraska) and 2010 champion Mark Threlkeld (Louisiana Tech), Rochester Honker Richie Jimenez (UNLV) and Thunder Bay Border Cat Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook). 

The South Division participants were 2009 champion Harold Riggins (NC State) and Madison Mallard teammate Kyle Gaedele (Valparaiso), Green Bay Bullfrog Scott Schebler (Wichita State) and Steve McGuiggan (Illinois-Chicago) of the host Eau Claire Express. 

The Home Run Derby first round saw Threlkeld (4), Gaedele (2), Jimenez (1) and Nivins (1) all advance to the second round.  The second round was the Mark Threlkeld and Kyle Gaedele show.  The final round featured a North Division participant and a South Division participant in Threlkeld and Gaedele respectively.   

Duluth Huskie Mark Threlkeld, who tied for the league-lead with 10 homers during the regular season, took the title by beating Mallard Kyle Gaedele for the 2010 Northwoods Home Run Derby title.  Threlkeld hit nine home runs on the night. 

Below is the round by round breakdown of how each NWL hitter performed.

Round 1:
Richie Jimenez (Rochester) (UNLV) 1
Scott Schebler (Green Bay) (Wichita State) 0
Mark Threlkeld (Duluth) (Louisiana Tech) 4
Kyle Gaedele (Madison) (Valparaiso) 2
Tanner Nivins (Thunder Bay) (Stony Brook) 1
Harold Riggins (Madison) (NC State) 0
Cody Asche (Duluth) (Nebraska) 0
Steve McGuiggan (Eau Claire) (Illinois-Chicago) 0

Round 2:
Richie Jimenez 1
Tanner Nivins 2
Kyle Gaedele 4
Mark Threlkeld 4

Final Round:
Kyle Gaedele 0
Mark Threlkeld 1

2009 All-Star Game Recap

The South Division emerged victorious despite a late rally from the North to claim the 2009 Northwoods League All-Star title.

Things started off well for the South as lead-off man Kurtis Muller (Madison ; Iowa) became the first base runner of the game in the top of the first. Keith Castillo (Alexandria; Southern California) put a stop to any early runs, though, with a tough catch in the North's bullpen. The North made some noise in their half of the first inning with Rochester's Rance Roundy (UNLV) giving the ball a ride out to the warning track, but the game remained scoreless through the first frame.

Both teams recorded their first strikeouts in the second inning as Dennis O'Grady (Brainerd Lakes Area; Duke) gave up only a single to Robert Brantley (La Crosse; UC-Riverside) and a walk to Battle Creek Bomber Josh Valle (Marshall) before striking out Aaron Gates (La Crosse; Pepperdine) to end his scoreless inning of work. Zach Varce (Green Bay; Portland) had his work cut out for him in the bottom of the second as he faced Mankato MoonDog, Danny Miller (Minnesota State-Mankato) who is on pace to break the MoonDog and Northwoods League single season walk records. Varce struck out Miller, gave up a double to Keith Castillo that went over center fielder, Kurtis Muller's head, and struck out Mankato's Kyle Knudson (Minnesota) to end the inning.

Zach Robertson (Rochester; Iowa) and Steven Gruver (La Crosse; Tennessee) continued the pitchers' duel despite a little excitement when former Thunder Bay Border Cat and current Alexandria Beetle, Mike O'Neill (Southern California) slapped a shot over third base. O'Neill's adrenaline carried him toward second, but the throw from Eau Claire's Nolan Fadness (UW-Oshkosh) was quick and O'Neill was tagged out without a slide.

The South Division put up their first run in the fourth as a slew of Battle Creek Bombers stood in at the plate. Jimmy Tanner (Battle Creek; South Carolina-Upstate) and Josh Valle (Battle Creek; Marshall) were on base for Greg Fujii (Battle Creek; San Jose City College) whose hit knocked in Tanner. Valle was thrown out trying to score from first. Cody Winiarski (Madison; Madison Area Tech) pitched another scoreless inning for the South.

After yet another scoreless inning in the fifth, the Madison Mallards' All-Stars followed Battle Creek's lead in the sixth. Jerrud Sabourin (Madison; Indiana) snuck a hit in between the center and right fielders for a double before Home Run Derby winner, Harold Riggins (Madison; NC State) roped a shot down the third base line for a double, scoring his teammate. Keith Castillo made another impressive catch at first, leaping for a line drive, and after Mike Gedman (Brainerd Lakes Area; Massachusetts) replaced James Wise (Mankato; Washington State) on the mound, the North got out of the sixth inning trailing by two. Mike O'Neill and Rance Roundy both single for the North in the bottom of the sixth, but Kurtis Muller gunned down O'Neill as he tried to score to keep the North Division off the scoreboard.

Nolan Fadness added an RBI-double in the seventh for the South, scoring Riley Henricks (Green Bay; Portland). A wild pitch scored Kurtis Muller, still with no outs in the inning. A groundout, strikeout swinging, and a fly out get the North out of a dangerous position, leaving Fadness on third. The North Division still couldn't put together a string of hits in the bottom of the seventh. A line drive straight at pitcher Bryce Shafer (Wisconsin; Valparaiso) was caught in self-defense.

The North Division finally took off in the bottom of the eighth. A strange hop led to a Josh Valle error at third allowing Derek Hamblen to get on base. Hamblen advanced to second on a wild pitch from Green Bay's Dixon Anderson (California-Berkley). Border Cat, Adam Courcha (New Mexico) recorded the first RBI for the North All-Stars after Mike O'Neill reached on an infield single. Rance Roundy added another RBI to cut the South's lead in half.

Drew Smith (Brainerd Lakes Area; Barton County) and Arik Sikula (Rochester; Marshall) combined for a scoreless ninth inning; Sikula with two strikeouts. The North had some contact in the bottom of the inning but fell short with the final score of 4-2.

The victory Tuesday marks the second year in a row the South Division has won the mid-summer showcase. These two victories follow on the heels of three straight North Division wins.

2009 Home Run Derby

The Home Run Derby is in the books and Madison Mallards first baseman, Harold Riggins, is your 2009 Northwoods League Home Run Derby Champion.

Riggins (N.C. State) has eight homeruns on the season and has already broken the Mallards' single season homerun record. Sending only one ball out of Port Arthur Stadium in the first round, the Normal, Illinois native tied Corey Jones of the Rochester Honkers with both heading into the second round.

The second round saw Jones (Cal State-Fullerton) lead off with one homerun to right field. Riggins took the plate and knocked two balls out of the park on three pitches. With encouragement from the fans , Riggins took his last five outs and had a total of three homeruns in the second round, four in the derby.

With the wind blowing in, the batters struggled but made good contact throughout the competition. Other participants in the Home Run Derby were Aaron Gates (La Crosse), Riley Henricks (Green Bay), Ben Long (Wisconsin), Adam Courcha (Thunder Bay), Kyle Knudson (Mankato) and Mike O'Neill (Alexandria).