Wisconsin 7, Wisconsin Rapids 3
After falling behind 3-0 early the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters never mounted enough offense to climb out of the hole as they fell 7-3 to the Wisconsin Woodchucks at Athletic Park Friday night. The fourth of five hits allowed by Michael Huckabay in the first cleared the fence for a three run home run to set Wisconsin up with a lead. The Rafters make their next stop in Madison for two games over the weekend. The club returns home Monday July 11 to begin a four game home stand running until July 13.
Mankato 5, Rochester 4
The Mankato MoonDogs ended their two game losing streak Friday night, literally walking away with a win against the Rochester Honkers by a score of 5-4 at Franklin Rogers Park. In the bottom of the ninth with no outs, the bases loaded and a full count, MoonDogs Sam Lind watched ball four cross the plate and drew the walk to bring James McDonald across home plate for the winning run. Lind was 2-for-4 on the night with the game winning RBI. The MoonDog offense broke out of its slump Friday night. Chris Ross (Montevallo) led the way for the MoonDogs and had a great game, Ross was 2-for-4 from the plate and scored two runs. Ross was a speed demon on the base paths, stealing three bags in the game.
Waterloo 5, Battle Creek 3
The Waterloo Bucks snapped the Bombers three-game winning streak in front of Battle Creek’s largest crowd and of the season on Friday night 5-3. After two innings of no-hit baseball, the Bucks jumped on Alex Loftin in the third and brought three runs across, and scored another in the fourth before Loftin was taken out. The Bombers mounted a comeback in the fifth and sixth when Jordan Dean grounded into a double play, which scored Brendan Norton from third base, and Dan Dispensa and Danny Rockett got RBI credits on a single and sac fly, respectively. Loftin struggled for the first time since his first appearance, allowing four runs and five hits before being relieved, while Scott Mariner, Alex Tukey, and Nolan Sanburn finished the effort, allowing just one total run and seven hits.
Brainerd 2, St. Cloud 1
A Dan Olinger single in the Bottom of the 9th inning propelled the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers to a 2-1 victory over the St. Cloud River Bats Friday night at Mills Field.
With two runners in scoring position and two outs, the Olinger single into right-center field drove in Tyler Wampler for the winning run. Jason Forjet was outstanding again for the Lunkers. He took a no decision, but went eight innings, giving up one run and striking out eight. Chase Webb takes the win to move to (2-0) as he came in for the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning. Michael Fagan takes the loss for St. Cloud as he falls to (1-1).
La Crosse 6, Eau Claire 5
3,289 packed Copeland Park on Friday night and saw Mike Reeves lift the Loggers late to a 6-5 victory over the Eau Claire Express. The Loggers trailed 5-4 entering the bottom of the eighth, before Reeves hit a two-run home run over the right field fence to give the Loggers the lead for good. The Loggers took an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second off of Express starter, Brad Goldberg. Zach Wright kept the Express off the scoreboard until the fifth inning when he started to stumble and allowed Eau Claire to climb back into the game. Wright pitched well enough to earn the win, allowing only three runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings but was left with a no decision.
Green Bay 10, Madison 0
Andy Hunter’s first start of the year for the Bullfrogs was a great one. He went six shutout innings and did not walk any Mallards in the 10-0 win at home on Friday to split the two-game series. Green Bay scored 10 runs in the ball game with back to back four-run innings. The Bullfrogs scored four runs in the third inning on two hits and three walks. Tyler Filliben drove in two runs with a triple. It was the ‘Frogs second triple of the season. Filliben would come into score on an RBI double from Jacob May who extended his hitting streak to six games. Even though Green Bay scored two more runs, Andy Hunter did not need it in his masterful performance that started a little rocky. Hunter allowed the first two base runners of the game to reach on singles to put runners on the corners.
Duluth 7, Alexandria 2
The Duluth Huskies jumped out to an early lead over the Alexandria Beetles Friday night at Wade Stadium and never looked back. K.C. Clabough started the game with a lead-off double in the first, and was driven in on a Brian Hansen single. Chris Manship then stepped to the plate and drove a two-run home run over the left field wall to give Duluth the 3-0 lead. Afterthe Beetles closed the gap with runs in the third and fifth, the Huskies added two insurance runs in the seventh and two in the ninth for the 7-2 lead. Manship finished the game 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs, Clabough went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, and Hansen went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Jimmy O’Neill made the start for the Huskies, allowing two runs in five innings pitched while striking out five.
Willmar 11, Thunder Bay 7
Willmar broke open a 3-3 tie with eight runs in the final two innings and held on to claim an 11-7 victory against the Thunder Bay Border Cats Friday night at Bill Taunton Stadium. Pat Stover led the Stingers’ offensive outburst with a 4-for-5 performance with two runs and four RBIs, including a three-run double in the eighth to give Willmar a 9-3 lead at the time. Rob Elliott, John Haberman and Mitch Rowan also had multi-hit games. Elliott went 2-for-4 with three runs and three stolen bases, while Haberman was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Rowan finished the game 2-for-4 with an RBI double. Thomas Taylor earned the victory to improve to 2-1 on the season after scattering nine hits in seven innings to allow only three runs. Taylor struck out two and did not walk a single batter. Jack Shannon pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief, striking out one.
