Published On: August 23rd, 2011

Former Northwoods League player Steve Edlefsen made his Major League Debut Sunday afternoon for the San Francisco Giants in their extra-innings 6-4 victory at Houston. The 6-foot 2-inch, 195-pound right hander struck out Clint Barmes, another Northwoods League alumnus, when he entered the game with two outs in the 5th inning. The 26-year-old pitched a hitless 6th inning as well to finish his debut with 1 1/3 perfect innings of relief with two strike outs.

Edlefsen had two stints in the Northwoods League, first playing briefly for the St. Cloud River Bats in 2004, and later joining the Duluth Huskies for the entire 2006 season. For St. Cloud, he was a third baseman and batted .167 in six games. Although he did pitch for Duluth in ’06, Edlefsen again was predominantly an infielder playing 36 of his 41 games at shortstop. He batted .239 with four extra-base hits and 17 runs scored. On the mound he showed a glimpse of the future. Edlefsen made six appearances, striking out eight in 8 1/3 innings and allowing a .185 opponents batting average and 2.16 ERA. It was the first time he’d pitched competitively since his high school days at Bloomington Jefferson HS in Bloomington, Minn.

His success on the mound in Duluth led him to an important pitching role when he returned to the University of Nebraska for his junior season in 2007. He was second on the Cornhuskers with 23 appearances, finishing his first season as a pitcher with a 4.10 ERA and 25 strike outs in 26 1/3 innings. His low 90s fastball with limited pitching experience helped him become a 16th round draft pick of the Giants in 2007. In five seasons in the Giants farm system Edlefsen was 27-12 with a 2.92 ERA. He made 191 appearances and struck out 260 batters in 289 1/3 innings.

Edlefsen became the 81st former Northwoods League player to reach the Major Leagues. He’s the 13th former River Bats player and 6th former Huskies player to do so. Steve’s younger brother Jeff also played in the NWL in 2008 with the Rochester Honkers.

The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America.

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