Battle Creek 8 – Madison 7
Manager Tom Fleenor (USC-Sumter) picked up his 250th Northwoods League regular-season win as the Battle Creek Bombers defeated the Madison Mallards by the final score 8-7. The win lifts the Bombers to only two-games back of the Mallards in the South Division, and a win tomorrow night would put them within striking distance with less than two-weeks remaining in the season. The Bombers came out firing tonight, starting off the bottom of the first with back-to-back-to-back singles. Josh Valle (Marshall) would then draw a bases-loaded walk to plate the game’s first run. After the walk, however, Mallards starter Jacob Esch (Georgia Tech) would retire the next three batters in order, escaping the inning with only one run allowed. The Mallards would respond with a run in the second, tying the game at 1-1. In the third inning, with runners on first and second, Mallards’ first-baseman Jerrud Sabourin (Indiana) belted a two-out double to left to give the Mallards a their first lead of the night. The next batter would bring Sabourin around to score, extending the lead to 4-1. The Bombers threatened to close the gap in the third and fourth innings, getting men into scoring position with one out. But both times the Mallards turned inning-ending double plays to thwart those scoring opportunities. They would finally breakthrough in the fifth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the newest Bomber Larry Perry (USC-Baufort). Perry would shine in his debut, driving a two-out, two-RBI single to left field. Parker Berberet (Cypress) followed suit with another RBI single to left, tying the game at 4-4. The Mallards answered quickly with two runs in the top of the sixth, both men scoring on an error at short. But the Bombers would have the last say. After back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the sixth cut the deficit to one, the Bombers finally re-gained the lead with a three-run seventh. A single and two walks loaded the bases with nobody out, and a wild pitch would score the tying run. Then, Craig Denman (Mercy Hurst) would drive a deep fly-ball to center to bring home the go-ahead run. As the center fielder attempted to throw-out Larry Perry at the plate, the ball would ricochet off of him and roll to the backstop, allowing a second run to score on the play. That run proved crucial, as the Mallards threatened to tie the game in the ninth. After a leadoff single, the Bombers brought in closer RJ Hively (Cal State Fullerton) to face the heart of the Mallard’s order. Two singles would bring the leadoff man around to score, and Hively faced a difficult situation with the tying run at second base. But he would keep his cool, striking out the next batter to secure Manager Fleenor’s 250th Northwoods League victory.
Wisconsin 4 – Brainerd 2
The Wisconsin Woodchucks (8-12) picked up ground in the Northwoods League South race as they defeated the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers (10-10) 4-2 Monday night at Athletic Park. The Lunkers struck first in the top of the third inning as Dennis O’Grady led things off with a double and scored on the first of three Woodchucks errors. The Woodchucks tied things up in the bottom of the fourth. Mike Marshall (Stanford) reached on a two-out walk, moved around to third on a Carson Vitale singled and scored on a Lunkers error. The tie was broken in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Woodchucks rallied for a pair of runs. Travis Whitmore (Pittsburgh) hit a one-out single and was followed by another single by Brett Krill (UCLA). They each moved up after a double steal and came into score when Ben Long (UW-Milwaukee) dropped a clutch two-run two-out double into the gap to give the ‘Chucks a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, the Woodchucks added some insurance when Marshall blasted the first pitch he saw over the center field wall to give the ‘Chucks a 4-2 advantage. The Lunkers rallied and put up a run in the top of the ninth, but it was not enough as Anthony Drobnick (Washington State) closed the door and gave the Woodchucks their sixth win in seven tries. The Woodchucks were led offensively by Long, who finished with two RBIs and his second game-winning hit in a row. Whitmore and Carson Vitale (Creighton) chipped in a pair of hits in the victory. Shon Roe had a team-high two hits and an RBI for the Lunkers in defeat. Terrance Jackson (Oklahoma City) picked up his first win of the season after allowing just one unearned run on two hits in 6.1 innings while striking out seven. Drobnick recorded the final three outs and earned his second save of the year. Kyle Spurley took the loss after allowing three runs on six hits while striking out six in six innings of work.
Duluth 2 – Rochester 0
The Duluth Huskies (8-14) defeated the Rochester Honkers (15-7) 2-0 on a solid pitching performance. Starting pitcher Justin Leith (Florida Intl) threw 5 great innings giving up 0 runs and only 1 hit. Justin’s pitching performance got him his first win of the season. Matt Patterson (Creighton) came into the game in the 9th inning to pick up his 9th save. The Huskie pitchers only allowed 2 hits on the night. Duluth brought the sticks to the park getting a total of 10 hits. Four of the Huskie hitters each had 2 hits apiece, and newcomer Jeff Reynolds (Harvard) was one of them. The 2 RBI of the game came off of the bats of Jared Womack (Oklahoma St) and Zac Elgie (Kansas).
Green Bay 5 – La Crosse 3
The La Crosse Loggers were not able to take advantage of Madison losing Monday night as they dropped their own game against the Green Bay Bullfrogs by the score of 5-3 at Copeland Park in front of 3,263 fans. The Bullfrogs jumped out to a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning when Riley Henricks (Portland) hit a two run home run. Aaron Gates (Pepperdine) of the Loggers was able to tie the game the following inning though when he hit an RBI single scoring third baseman Chris Engell (San Diego). The game would remain 3-3 until the Bullfrogs finally broke the tie in the 8th inning when they picked up two runs to take the 5-3 lead. That would be all for the scoring though as Alex Schmarzo (St. Mary’s) came in for the bottom of the ninth and retired the first three Loggers he faced to pick up the save. Going 1-4 with 3 RBI’s was Green Bay’s left fielder Riley Henricks who hit his team leading sixth home run on the season. Matt Kimball picked up his second win of the season as he pitched two scoreless innings striking out two along the way. For the Loggers, Chris Engell went 2-5 with an RBI to lead the way offensively as Pete Woodworth (Florida Gulf Coast) pitched 7.1 innings allowing five runs while picking up the loss.
Waterloo 8 – Eau Claire 4 (Game 1)
The home-standing Waterloo Bucks jumped over second-place LaCrosse Loggers and just one game behind Northwoods League South Division leading Madison with an 8-4, 4-3 sweep of the Eau Claire Express Monday night. Left fielder Phil Keppler (Iowa) and catcher Josh Lyon (Indiana) paced the offense in an 8-4 victory to begin the twinbill. Keppler pounded one of three round trippers for the Blue, Gold and White and added a double, while Lyon, concluding an 11-pitch at-bat in the fifth inning, drove a pitch high over the right field wall to plate the final three runs of the game. The offensive attack helped lift starting pitcher C.J. Rose (Jefferson Community College). Rose moved his record to 3-3 with six innings of work.
Waterloo 4 – Eau Claire 3 (Game 2)
In the nightcap, a strong pitching effort from the bullpen trio of Andrew Plotkin (Northwestern St.), Scott Williams (UW-Stevens Point) and Dennis Chachko (Niagara) en route to the one-run win. Plotkin took his first win of the year behind two innings of no-hit work, while Chachko earned his first save by leaving the potential tying run on second base in the seventh inning. Offensively, left fielder Pat Stover (Santa Clara) turned in two RBIs, including the game winner in the fifth, and second baseman Tyler Robbins (Des Moines Area Community College) finished with two runs scored.
Mankato 6 – St. Cloud 0
Tim Griffin completed the first no-hitter in Mankato MoonDogs history. Griffin struck out 10 batters and walked four to record the milestone no-no, as he led the MoonDogs to a 6-0 victory over the St. Cloud River Bats at Franklin Rogers Park Monday night. Griffin (Rollins), an All-Star this season, faced the minimum in five innings, and did not allow a runner past second base. All of his strikeouts were of the swinging variety, as he recorded two Ks in four separate innings. The ninth inning saw Danny Oh (Cal) reach on a one-out error to set up an epic battle with Zac Richard (Florida Gulf Coast). Richard had a nine-pitch at-bat, fouling off six, before hitting a soft groundball to third. The double play went Cody Fick (Evansville) to AJ Pettersen (Minnesota) to Evan Kohli (Illinois St.) at first to finish the no-no for Griffin. Griffin moved to 4-2 on the season and lowered his earned run average to 1.64 on the summer. Matt Summers (UC Irvine) walked eight in just over four and one-thirds innings to fall to 1-1. The MoonDogs had several offensive contributors, as Kyle Knudson (Minnesota), Brenden Webb (Palomar CC) and Ryan Durant (Iowa) all recorded two hits. Webb had a double, triple and two RBI while AJ Pettersen (Minnesota) also added two RBI and a stolen base. The MoonDogs would score all the runs they would need in the first via a Pettersen RBI groundout and Webb’s RBI triple. With the bases loaded in the second, Pettersen drew a bases loaded walk to make it a 3-0 ballgame. The MoonDogs put it well out of reach in the sixth with a three-run outburst. After a Fick walk to start the inning, KC Serna (Oregon) tripled him in to make it 4-0. Another walk and a hit batsman preceded a Jimmy Patterson (Arizona St.) RBI walk to bring in the fifth MoonDog run. The inning ended after Webb’s RBI double turned into an unconventional 8-4-2-5 double play as the MoonDogs capped off the scoring with a 6-0 lead. The no-hitter was the 12th in Northwoods League history and fourth this season.
Thunder Bay 11 – Alexandria 2
The Border Cats pounded out 16 hits as they hammered Alexandria 11-2 for their fourth straight win. Walker Moore (Cal St. Fullerton) drilled a two-run home run as Thunder Bay erupted for five runs second inning. Walker added a pair of doubles in a 3-5 performance at the plate. Cameron Smith (New Mexico) went 3-4 with an RBI triple and two runs scored as the Border Cats improved to 11-10. Matty Johnson (Bellevue) was 3-6 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Tim Urban (Nebraska-Omaha) had three hits as the Beetles dropped to 11-9. Thunder Bay righthander Matt Robertson (Barton CC) pitched eight innings to up his record to 5-4. Robertson allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six. Austen Siwiec (Valparaiso) took the loss to fall to 5-2. Siwiec gave up 12 hits and seven runs over 5 1/3 innings, with four walks and four strikeouts.
