La Crosse, Wisc. – It only took 4 hours and 44 minutes, but the La Crosse Loggers escaped the game with a win on a walk off wild pitch by Mason McCoy. The game totaled 25 runs, 34 hits, 22 walks, 20 strikeouts, 2 blown saves, and 3 lead changes.
The Loggers pitching staff had another woeful opening innings. Anthony Massicci (Cansius) homered to right to lead off the game. Neil Lang (Grossmont CC) walked four batters in five at-bats to add another run to the early lead.
Ryan Kirby (San Diego) lit the fuse for the Lumberman in the 2nd inning when he doubled after a leadoff walk by Jordan Pearce (Nevada). Chris Baker (Washington) tied up the game with a double to right. Baker came into score on a balk by Lincoln Voss (Augustana). Two Loggers walked; one was caught in a double play and the other scored on a Mason McCoy (Iowa) triple. Three consecutive walks and a RBI single by Ryan Kirby scored two more runs to give La Crosse a 6-2 lead.
Lakeshore grabbed two more in the 4th when Anthony Massicci singled and scored on a balk by Tristan Walters (Kankakee CC). After surrendering another single, Ryan Marks (Columbia) came into the game in relief. He walked three consecutive batters, bringing in a run. Colby Fitch (Louisville) scored in the 5th on a single by Zarley Zalewski (Kent State).
Michael Echavia (Chabot) and Brock Lundquist (Long Beach State) both singled in the bottom half of the 5th to bring in two runs. Jordan Pearce doubled in the 6th and came into score on a fielder’s choice by Chris Baker, extending the Loggers lead to 9-5.
Lakeshore made a furious comeback late with a leadoff home run by Colby Fitch in the 7th. Four consecutive batters reached on hits off Liam Carter (Missouri). Ty Provencher (Long Beach State) was not able to shut down the Chinooks charge. A single by Colby Fitch brought in the tying run. The go-ahead run scored when Luis Trevino’s (Navarro JC) pickoff throw to third bounced off the glove of Baker, allowing Greg Deichmann (LSU) to score.
Mason McCoy doubled in the 7th inning, breaking the Loggers single season extra base hits record.
Two more insurance runs crossed to put Lakeshore up 12-9 going into La Crosse’s final at-bats. With the bases loaded and two outs, Ryan Kirby came up huge and brought it two on his single to center. Will Savage (Columbia) scored on a bases loaded walk to tie the game. Ronnie Gideon (Texas A&M) pinched hit, but struck out to end the 9th inning.
Mason McCoy collected his 4th hit of the game and scored the winning run on a wild pitch during Will Savage’s at-bat. The win puts La Crosse at 37-28 overall, 5.5 games up on Lakeshore for the final wild card slot.
Kalamazoo stops into the Lumberyard for a two game series (Monday and Wednesday) against La Crosse. Game time is 7:05. Make sure you get here when the gates open at 6, because the first 1,000 fans get a Loggers baseball card set!
