There were two walk-off home runs in the Northwoods League today as the Green Bay Bullfrogs defeated the Kalamazoo Growlers and the La Crosse Loggers beat the Thunder Bay Border Cats. The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters made it ten in a row with a 7-2 victory over the Madison Mallards as they hold a three-game lead in the South.

Madison 2, Wisconsin Rapids 7

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters continues to find ways to win as they extended their winning streak to ten while defeating the Madison Mallards 7-2. Rapids jumped on the board first when Nick Owens (St. Johns River State) scored from a Dustin Woodcock (SIU-Edwardsville) sac fly. Madison would then take the lead after getting single runs in the third and fourth. Rapids responded to tie in the bottom half of the fourth when Woodcock hit a solo home run. The Rafters retook the lead in the fifth when Bryson Stott (UNLV) hit an RBI double and broke the game open with four in the seventh. Woodcock picked up RBI number three and 13th on the season from a bases loaded walk and a fielder’s choice and double drove in three more. Jack Eagan (Madison College) improved his record to 3-0 as he pitched five, only allowed two runs on four hits while striking out six.

Bismarck 4, Rochester 10

The Rochester Honkers blast four home runs in a 10-4 victory over the Bismarck Larks. The Larks jumped on the board first in the opening inning when Scooter Bynum (Northern Illinois) drove in a two-run double. Zach Zubia (Texas) put the Honkers on the board with an RBI single in the bottom half and then Weston Hatten (Nevada) hit a three-run home run to add four in the inning. The Larks scored another one in the second, but the Honkers responded for one more in the third. Rochester extended their lead to five in the fifth with a two-run home run from Ethan Ibarra (St. Cloud State). Two more home runs came for the Honkers in the seventh when Jordan Hart (Minnesota State Mankato) led off the inning with a solo shot and Griffin Neuer (Bellarmine) knocked in a two-run home run. The Larks would continue to chip away with a solo home run by Cullen Smith (East Tennessee State), but Garrett Cobb (Seminole State) settled in and threw a scoreless ninth. Beau O’Hara (Texas) came into pitch for the Honkers after Michael Stryffeler (Lake Erie) left after an inning. O’Hara pitched five, gave up one run on three hits while striking out five and earned himself the win.

Kalamazoo 5, Green Bay 6

The Green Bay Bullfrogs walk-off with two home runs in the ninth to defeat the Kalamazoo Growlers 6-5 this afternoon. The Frogs struck first in the bottom half of the opening inning when Kyle Benyo (Youngstown State) stayed hot and drove in a run from a fielder’s choice. Brad Hamilton (Kent State) then drove in the second with a single. Each team traded runs in the second to keep Green Bay up by one. Kalamazoo then rattled off three straight in consecutive innings to give them the lead in the sixth. The Bullfrogs tied the game in the bottom half when Troy Johnston (Gonzaga) scored on an RBI single. The Growlers retook the lead in the top of the ninth, but Johnston led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run and Willie Bourbon (Northwestern) won the game with a solo shot. Anthony Egeln (Trinity) came in for the final out in the ninth for the Frogs and earned himself his first win of the season.

Battle Creek 12, Wisconsin 6

The Battle Creek Bombers exploded for runs in the first five innings to improve their record to 9-4 in a 12-6 victory over the Wisconsin Woodchucks. Battle Creek was on the board with the second batter of the game when Alex Howard (Arkansas State) hit a two-run home run. Tom Stoffel (Virginia Tech) scored the third from an error by the right fielder. The Chucks responded for one in the bottom half, but the Bombers went off for another three in the next inning. JD Mundy (Virginia Tech) extended the Bombers’ lead with a solo shot in the third. The Woodchucks responded with a two-run home run by Ivan Nunez (Hillsborough CC) in the bottom half along with a solo from Jackson Owens (Texas A&M Corpus Christi). With a four-run lead going into the fourth, the Bombers added an insurance run from Howard’s second home run and Mundy hit his second in the fifth. Mundy continued to attack Wisconsin pitching as he hit his third which was a two-run shot in the seventh. The Bombers got one in the top of the eighth and the Chucks answered for two in the bottom half, but it wouldn’t be enough. Colton Bradley (Central Michigan) cleaned up the damage for the Bombers as he threw a scoreless ninth and ended the game.

Waterloo 7, Duluth 2

The Waterloo Bucks won their ninth game of the season, dropping the Duluth Huskies under .500 in a 7-2 victory this afternoon. The Bucks went off for four in the second which started with a bases clearing triple by Keaton Presley (Central Arkansas) who later scored on a fielder’s choice. The Huskies managed to get one back in the bottom half from a bases loaded walk. Zach Malis (Grand Canyon) drove in two of his own in the fifth to put his RBI total to 12 on the season. Presley scored his second run of the game in the top of the ninth for Waterloo. The Huskies wouldn’t go away quietly as they got one in the bottom half, but Brady Corson (Cal State-San Marcos) got the next batter to strike out and end the game for the Bucks.

Willmar 0, St. Cloud 9

The St. Cloud Rox continued to use pitching dominance from Jack Cushing (Georgetown) which led to a 9-0 victory over the Willmar Stingers. The Rox jumped for six right away in the bottom of the opening inning which featured a three-run home run by Michael Busch (North Carolina). St. Cloud would get two more in the third which started from a fourth RBI from Busch. The Rox took an 8-0 lead into the sixth and Busch knocked his second home run of the game which would result in the final score. The Stingers tied the Rox in hits with eight, but Cushing threw a scoreless seven while striking out five. He earned himself his second win of the season and hasn’t allowed a run in 18 innings.

Kenosha 5, Rockford 9

The Rockford Rivets used a four-run opening inning to lift them over the Kenosha Kingfish for a 9-5 victory. The Kingfish got on the board from the second batter of the game when Connor Doyle (San Diego) hit a solo home run. The Rivets then responded with their own home run in the bottom half when JC DeMuri (Quincy) hit a three-run shot. Max Widmar hit a solo home run for the Kingfish in the fourth to cut their deficit in half, but the Rivets went up by four more with two in the bottom half. Kenosha continued to battle back with single runs in the next three innings. After an error and back-to-back singles, the Rivets responded for three in their half of the seventh. Zach Thomas (Chicago State) settled in after giving up one in the seventh and converted the three-inning save for the Rivets.

Fond du Lac 4, Lakeshore 5

The Lakeshore Chinooks scored five runs in the second which proved to be enough to defeat the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders 5-4. The Spiders got on the board first when Eric Gilgenbach (Notre Dame) drove in his eleventh of the season from a single. The Chinooks then went off for five in the bottom half. Drake Lubin (Eastern Michigan) drove in an unearned run from a single to get things going. He later scored from a two-RBI double by Zach Biermann (Polk State) who also scored along with Jacob Richardson (Southern Arkansas). The Spiders cut their deficit to two when Andrew Bullock (Western Carolina) hit a two-run shot in the fifth. Bullock drove in his third of the game in the next inning, but that wouldn’t be enough as the final two relievers for the Chinooks threw three scoreless to end the game.

Mankato 11, Eau Claire 10

 The Mankato MoonDogs put up five in the fifth and held off a late Eau Claire Express rally to win 11-10. Alvaro Rubalcaba (CSUN) led off the game with a solo home run for the MoonDogs. The Express would answer for a run in the bottom half but Mankato put up a three spot in the next inning. Nic Ready (Air Force) then scored for the Express to cut their deficit in half. Both teams traded two runs in third, but the Express got two in the fourth to tie the game at six. The MoonDogs then went off for five in the fifth to break the game open. Christopher Schaeffer (Western Illinois) started the inning with an RBI single and later scored from a two-run single by Garrison Schwartz (Grand Canyon). With the Express down four, they managed to get one each in the sixth and seventh while two in the eighth, but that wasn’t enough to win the game.

Thunder Bay 8, La Crosse 9

The La Crosse Loggers edged out the Thunder Bay Border Cats in a 9-8 victory form a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth. Noah Strohl (Grossmont) put the Border Cats on the board first with a three-run home run in the first. Grant Judkins (Iowa) responded in the second with a solo shot for the Loggers. An RBI double and single helped put Thunder Bay up four in the third. La Crosse battled back for one when Korey Lee (California) hit a solo home run. The Border Cats extended their lead with a two-run home run from Colin Rosenbaum (Belmont Abbey). The Loggers then tied the game at seven when they went off for five in the bottom of the seventh as three runs came from a Garrett Christman (Butler) home run.  Thunder Bay went up by one in the top of the ninth, but Ryan Mantle (Jefferson CC) won the game for La Crosse from a two-run shot as he hit one out on the Border Cat’s closer.

 

Schedule for June 12:

Waterloo @ Duluth (6:35 PM)

Kalamazoo @ Green Bay (6:35 PM)

Mankato @ Eau Claire (6:35 PM)

Kenosha @ Rockford (6:35 PM)

Battle Creek @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM)

Lakeshore @ Fond du Lac (6:35 PM)

Bismarck @ Rochester (7:05 PM)

St. Cloud @ Willmar (7:05 PM)

Thunder Bay @ La Crosse (7:05 PM)

Madison @ Wisconsin Rapids (7:05 PM)