Rochester, Minn (August 9th, 2013)–Friday night was the opening of the final weekend of the 2013 Northwoods League season. As just a few days remain in the season, teams make their final pushes towards a spot in the post season. With several great match ups on the slate, Friday provided an exciting platform on which teams could begin their final stand.

In the North Division, the standings remained unchanged as Waterloo, Mankato, Willmar, and Duluth all won their games. With Waterloo remaining in first by a wide margin, the second playoff spot will come down to the overall record of the second best team. Unfortunately for Mankato, they were eliminated by a win from the Duluth Huskies.

In the South Division, the Lakeshore Chinooks gained some vital separation between themselves and the La Crosse Loggers. Lakeshore beat Rochester by a score of 16-3 while La Crosse fell to the St. Cloud Rox by a score of 3-2 in St. Cloud. The Chinooks hold a slim 1.5 game lead in the second half standings and two games on the overall schedule.

Duluth 7, Eau Claire 2

The outcome of this game had a big impact on the chase in both divisions. With the win, Duluth maintains their lead at two games with just two games left to be played, whereas Eau Claire is now down two games. Luke Vandermaten (Iowa Central CC) took the ball on the mound and gave up just one run on five hits while striking out six and getting the win.

Alexandria 8, Wisconsin Rapids 7 (F/10)

After blowing their lead in the top of the ninth, the Blue Anchors pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the tenth. Kris Goodman (Iowa) hit a walk-off solo home run to send the Blue Anchors home with a win. Goodman went 3/5 on the night with three runs driven in.

Waterloo 6, Battle Creek 2

With the win, the Bucks now own 51 wins on the season and the single-season wins record. Four different pitchers made appearances for Waterloo as they allowed two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts as a team. On offense, John Ziznewski (Long Island) hit a pair of doubles as he scored twice and drove in two runs.

Lakeshore 16, Rochester 3

With the pressure at the highest it has been in the season, Lakeshore took care of business early on Friday. With 14 runs in the first two innings, the Chinooks put this one away very early on. While the offense was slapping the Honkers around, Donnie Hissa (Notre Dame) made the start and gave up one run in six innings while striking out six batters.

Willmar 13, Green Bay 3

This game was close in the middle innings until Willmar broke things open with 10 runs between the fifth and seventh innings. Nick Halamandaris (California) hit his sixth home run and drove in four as the Stingers destroyed the Bullfrogs. As a team, the Stingers pounded out 18 hits as they refused to let up on Green Bay.

St. Cloud 3, La Crosse 2

With Lakeshore holding a lead in the South, La Crosse needed to get a win to keep pace. However, they were unable to accomplish this thanks to Lucas Long (San Diego). Long pitched eight innings and allowed one earned run on nine hits. Most impressively, Long struck out six batters and only walked one in the win.

Mankato 7, Madison 3

The MoonDogs have fallen off in recent days, and they didn’t find it until they had already been eliminated by Duluth. Brock Dykxhoorn (West Virginia) pitched 4.2 scoreless innings in relief as he struck out eight Mallards. Josh Fuentes (Saddleback College) came up with three huge RBI to back Dykxhoorn’s effort.

Wisconsin 12, Thunder Bay 4

Double digit run totals have been a common occurrence in Thunder Bay this week, as the Woodchucks dominated the Border Cats on Friday. Tyler Adams (Upper Iowa) went 4/5 on the night with his first double and first three RBI of the season. In the effort, the Woodchucks were able to record 14 hits and draw six walks as they frustrated the Border Cats all night.

Saturday Schedule:

Mankato vs. St. Cloud- 6:05
Lakeshore vs. Madison- 6:05
Wisconsin vs. La Crosse- 6:05
Alexandria vs. Thunder Bay- 6:05
Battle Creek vs. Wisconsin Rapids- 6:05
Green Bay vs. Eau Claire- 6:35
Duluth vs. Rochester- 7:05
Willmar vs. Waterloo- 7:05

Catch all of the night’s highlights on our Youtube page! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nXkZ46tiBY