What a week!  I knew covering the South Division was going to be exciting, but this week was beyond my wildest expectations!  Pitching duals, walk-off hits, extra innings, great weather, cold weather…I’ve gotten it all!

I had the pleasure of starting my season off in beautiful Carson Park as the Eau Claire Express opened their season against the Wisconsin Woodchucks last Thursday.  Gorgeous weather and the smell of hot dogs invited thousands of fans out to the park and you could feel the excited energy of Opening Day.  The crowd showed its support as Express pitcher, Gera Sanchez, took the mound again after a 7-month rehab for a torn ACL, and did he ever give them something to cheer about!  Sanchez struck out nine Woodchucks in six innings of work, giving up only two hits and no runs.  Wisconsin knocked in two runs, but it wasn’t enough to snag a win; the Express rewarded their fans with an Opening Day, home-opener victory 5-2.

Since I was still in the area, I took the opportunity to catch one more Express game on Saturday when the La Crosse Loggers came into town.  I got to the park pretty early, right about the time the gates were opening, and the parking lot was full.  The street was also full.  The grass was even starting to fill up!  (If you’ve never been to Carson Park let me explain.  Besides the baseball diamond, there are also tennis courts, hiking trails, a logging camp, a museum and a football field.  The football field runs parallel to the left field fence and the press box looks right over the fence toward the baseball diamond.)  On this particular evening, the Chippewa Valley Predators and Eau Claire Crush of the Northern Elite Football League were playing out an intense rivalry right next door to the Express, so no matter what the attendance says, you could add another hundred that were keeping an eye on both games!

But, back to baseball!  It got a little chilly as the sun set, though the game was just heating up.  Trax and the Eau Claire marketing crew provided between-inning fun and another great crowd did what it could, but La Crosse handed the Express what proved to be its only loss in the first week of play.  Eau Claire had the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth to keep the Loggers on their toes and couldn’t close the deal.  Final score Loggers 4, Express 2.  (In case you were wondering, the Predators beat the Crush 20-15.)

The first of June marked my trip up to Athletic Park in Wausau where the ‘Chucks were playing host to La Crosse.  After the initial surprise of having the ballpark appear out of nowhere and the fun of finding a parking spot out of foul ball territory, I settled in for “Untuckem – Chucks Win!” night.  (Check out the Northwoods League Facebook page for a picture of me wearing my “Untuckem” shirt!)  Sitting at the top of the bleachers at first base, I had a fantastic view of the neighborhood, the full grown trees, and the sunset behind the hills surrounding the park.  I love the historic ballparks and Athletic Park did not disappoint. 

Neither did the fans!  Despite cold temperatures, the enthusiastic Woodchuck and Logger fans stuck it out until the bottom of the ninth when Wisconsin’s Jeremy Richter hit a walk off base hit to edge the Loggers 6-5.  Kudos to kids PA announcer Rachel for an outstanding display of broadcasting, but my top play(s) goes to La Crosse’s Austin Knight who pulled not only one, but two of the best David Ortiz impressions I’ve seen.  Luckily, unlike Ortiz’s bat, Knight’s didn’t end up in the seats.

Last night, I made my first visit to “The Lumberyard” to see, who else, but the Loggers.  Seems to be an unintentional trend in the games I go to.  The Lumbermen were looking to cut down the Bombers of Battle Creek who were coming into the game with a league-best 5-game win streak.  Another warm evening brought lots of baseball fans to the park, but they were quiet as the Bombers took a 1-0 lead.  Justin Preckajlo changed that when he made some noise in the sixth with a solo shot that tied the game 1-1. 

Now, I am a huge baseball fan, but one of the few things that can top baseball in my world is food.  I like food.  So believe me when I tell you that my “Logger Corn Dog” last night was the best corn dog I have ever eaten.  It was hot and juicy on the inside but golden brown with just a little crunch on the outside batter….delicious!  My roommate and guest for the evening said the “Logger Dog” was also extremely tasty so hats off to the concessions at “The Lumberyard”!

Ah, yes, there was a game to be finished.  Nine innings wasn’t enough fun, so to extra innings we went.  Aaron Gates would be the hero as his hit in the bottom of the tenth was enough to score pinch runner Morgan Mickan from second for a Logger walk off victory 2-1.

As I got in the car to head back to Madison, I counted my blessings that I wasn’t heading any farther – the Loggers welcomed a wedding party from Louisiana last night!  Now that’s a drive!

I’m looking forward to a Mallards’ game tonight in Madison, a trek out to Battle Creek on Saturday and a Sunday game in Green Bay to round out my weekend.