Published On: August 12th, 2011

Battle Creek 12, Green Bay 2

For the third straight night the Bombers scored double-digit runs against the Bullfrogs pounding out 17 hits and winning 12-2. Daniel Rockett (Texas-San Antonio) mashed the ball on Friday night in Battle Creek, where he went 4-for-5 with two home runs, four runs and four RBIs. Meanwhile, Bryce Redeker (Miami (OH)) was at it again going 3-for-4 with his 4th home run of the week and four RBIs. Redeker now has 15 RBIs so far this week and 11 home runs for the season. Tyler Hall (Central Michigan) also had a big night for the Bombers going 4-for-4. Paul Hoenecke (UW-Milwaukee) had the Bullfrogs only two RBIs.

La Crosse 3, Waterloo 2

The Loggers slugged the winning run across home plate in the bottom of the 10th on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Smith (Oregon State) to score Ethan Gross (Memphis) to stay alive in the South Division playoff race. Michael Schum (Wright State) came in for relief of Brando Tessar (Oregon), pitched two innings, struck out two and earned his 7th win of the season, which ties him for the NWL lead. Sean Borman (Des Moines Area CC) went 3-for-5 with an RBI for Waterloo. Nearly 3,900 people were on hand for the regular season home finale for the Loggers.

Thunder Bay 1, Willmar 0

Cory Caruso (Cal State-San Bernardino) pitched seven strong innings for the Border Cats to defeat Willmar 1-0 at Thunder Bay’s final home game of 2011 in front of a crowd of 1,612 at Port Arthur Stadium. Mitch VandenBerge (Doane) got the final out and earned his first save of the season. Cullen Mahoney (South Mountain) went 2-for-4 with a stolen base for the Border Cats. The Stingers’ Chris Gonzales (Point Loma) struck out five, walked three and only allowed four hits in six innings but took the loss.

St. Cloud 3, Mankato 1

Seven MoonDogs batted in the 9th inning but Mankato left the bases loaded as the River Bats held on to defeat them 3-1 at Joe Faber Field. Andy Urban (Hutchinson CC) tossed 8 1/3 innings, struck out four, walked five, allowed four hits and was able to earn his fifth victory of the season. Shaun Cooper (Utah) had two doubles and the only run scored for the MoonDogs. Derek Martinez (Menlo) got the final two outs in the 9th to earn the save for St. Cloud.

Wisconsin Rapids 3, Eau Claire 2

The Rafters pushed around one run in the top of the 9th to break the 2-2 tie on the road at Carson Park and defeat the defending champs 3-2 in their final home game of 2011. Brooks Barga (UW-La Crosse) blasted a solo shot in the 4th to take the lead for the Rafters but the Express fired back in the 6th to tie the game. The Rafters started the 9th reaching base on an error and a walk that turned into the winning run. Ryan Freitag (Madison College) went 3-for-3 with a walk, double and run scored for the Express. Joie Dunyon (Cal-Riverside) got his third win of the season with two scoreless innings of relief.

Rochester 11, Brainerd Lakes Area 2

The Honkers batted around in the bottom of the 2nd inning putting up nine runs on their way to a home finale victory in front of 1,637 happy fans at Mayo Field. For the Honkers, Justin Kline (Presentation College) and Seth McMullen (Winona State) both hit their 2nd home run of the season while Tony Kemp (Vanderbilt) went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk. Kyle Crocker (Minnesota) drove in the two runs for the Lunkers by hitting his 1st homer. DJ Snelton (Minnesota) held the Lunkers scoreless for the first six innings to earn the win.

Wisconsin 8, Madison 7

The Woodchucks held off the Mallards 8-7 before another packed house at the Duck Pond in a game that started about an hour late due to a rain delay. Carlos Escobar (Nevada-Reno) went deep for the 4th time this week and finished 3-for-4 on the evening, raising his average to .342 for Wisconsin. Anthony Drobnick (Washington State) pitched three innings, struck out five batters and allowed two hits to earn the win. Matt Mirabal (Illinois State) went 2-for-4, scored twice, homered and drove in four runs for Madison.

Duluth at Alexandria (Canceled)

Duluth led Alexandria 2-1 in the 4th inning before the game went into a lightning delay that turned into a rain storm as severe weather hit the Alexandria area. The game was canceled.

Playoff Scenarios

North Division

With Mankato’s loss Friday and Alexandria’s game being cancelled, the Beetles clinched home field advantage throughout the Northwoods League playoffs. They’ll host games two and three in the divisional round of the playoffs and games two and three in the championship round, should they advance.

Monday, August 15
Alexandria at Mankato, 7:05 PM central

Tuesday, August 16
Mankato at Alexandria, 7:05 PM central

Wednesday, August 17
Mankato at Alexandria, 7:05 PM central (if necessary)

South Division

Although Battle Creek’s three-game sweep over Green Bay did some heavy damage to the Bullfrogs chance at winning the second half title, it still leaves Green Bay in a great position to claim a playoff berth.

Battle Creek, Green Bay and La Crosse all still have a chance to win the second half title in the South Division. Battle Creek won the first half title, so they already have their playoff spot locked up. If they win the second half as well, the team in the South with the second best overall record would advance to the postseason. That team would be Green Bay. La Crosse loses all tie-breakers, so the only way the Loggers can claim the playoff berth is if they win the second half title outright.

La Crosse is tied with Green Bay, one game behind Battle Creek with two games to play. La Crosse needs to sweep Wisconsin Rapids on the road, needs Battle Creek to get swept by Madison at home, and needs Green Bay to lose at least one game to Eau Claire at home. A lot is going against La Crosse at this point, but if they win Saturday and Battle Creek loses Saturday, they’ll enter the final day of the regular season on Sunday with a chance.

Green Bay loses the tie-breaker against Battle Creek so to win the second half title they will need to finish ahead of the Bombers in the standings. If this happens, Green Bay would get home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

One Battle Creek win would mean that they would hit the road for game one of the postseason on Monday at Green Bay. Games two and three would be in Battle Creek on Tuesday and Wednesday (if necessary).

If La Crosse can pull off the minor miracle and win the second half, they would host a playoff game on Monday.

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