(Photo Courtesy: Lyle Ripplinger)
Written By: Cody Shook, Larks Broadcaster
LA CROSSE, WI– The Bismarck Larks score one run in five different innings and dominate on the mound to come away with the 5-4 victory over the La Crosse Loggers. With the victory the Larks improve to 16-10 on the season and are in a three way tie for second place just two games back of the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League standings.
Cruz Daddario started on the mound tonight for the Larks and was dominate through the first six innings only allowing three hits and no runs before allowing two singles in the bottom of the 7th inning lead to his departure from the game and brought in Tristen Hudson. The Loggers were able to plate to runs in the 7th inning to make it a 4-2 game. Head coach, Sean Repay said “Cruz was dominate tonight because he had the ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes and he has been working hard in his off days to get back to the Cruz that we saw during his first start of the season.”
The Larks got the scoring going in the top of the 2nd inning when Matt Warkentin hit a double off of the center field wall, and was driven in by Carson Bartels on a double down the left field line.
In the top of the 4th inning, Bartels went deep to left field for a solo home run to give the Larks a 2-0 lead. Coach Repay said “That home run was huge for us tonight, and I haven’t seen our team react to a home run like that all season.”
Ripken Reyes started the top of the 5th inning off with a double and was later driven in Michael Farnell on his third single of the game to increase the lead to 3-0. Reyes would score his second run of the game and give the Larks a 4-0 lead in the top of the 7th inning.
Pushing across two runs in the bottom of the 7th, the momentum started to shift in favor of the Loggers but Hudson shut the door in the bottom of the 8th inning and the Larks added an insurance run in the top off the 9th inning to take the 5-2 lead.
Colan Borchers came on in the 9th inning and gave up two runs and struck out one batter while earning the save on the mound, which gave the Daddario the win.
Two games back of the Duluth Huskies with just ten games remaining in the first half means that anybody can still end in first place and clinch a playoff spot. Coach Repay said “Every game is intense because it feels like playoff baseball and our guys love it.” He then went on to say “We can’t control what Duluth does and we have to continue playing our game and we have a chance to take first place.”
The Larks won by a score of 5-4 and are now 16-10 on the season. The Larks will be back in action tomorrow night when they take on the Waterloo Bucks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Catch all the action on http://mixlr.com/larksbaseball/.
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The Bismarck Larks are a proud affiliate of the Northwoods League, the proven leader in development of elite college baseball players. The Larks mission is to use FUN to make a difference in the lives of our families, businesses, players, and communities we serve. This is accomplished with a commitment to putting fans first and providing high quality family entertainment at affordable prices. In 2017, the Larks sold out 27 of their 36 home games in Bismarck Municipal Ballpark, home of Dakota Community Bank and Trust Field, and were named the Northwoods League’s Organization of the Year.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 190 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
