Waterloo bounced back to stay even with St. Cloud as the Bucks defeated Rochester and the Rox took down Thunder Bay. The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters also bounced back to hold a four-game lead over Kenosha as the Kingfish won the first game of a scheduled doubleheader against Rockford. The second game between the Kingfish and Rivets was postponed due to rain. All that information is listed below.
Rockford 3 Kenosha 6 (Game 1) (7 Innings)
The Kenosha Kingfish scored multiple runs in back-to-back innings to defeat the Rockford Rivets 6-3 in a seven-inning game. The Rivets scored first in the bottom half of the opening inning when Bren Spillane (Illinois) hit a solo home run. The Kingfish answered to take the lead with four in the second which started from back-to-back RBI doubles by Tim Millard (Dallas Baptist) and Mike Madej (Purdue). Millard drove in two more in the next inning when he hit a two-run home run. Rockford cut their deficit in half in the fifth from two RBI singles, but Austin Paisar (Eastern New Mexico) and Billy McKay (Florida) combined to throw the next two innings scoreless.
Kalamazoo 0, Lakeshore 1
The Lakeshore Chinooks used four pitchers to shutout the Kalamazoo Growlers 1-0. The Only run of the game came in the bottom of the first when Matthew Mika (Central Florida) led off the inning with a single. He then stole second and third and scored from an RBI ground out. Austin Jones (UW-Whitewater) started his first game this season for Lakeshore. He threw five scoreless while only allowing three hits and one walk in his first win. Connor Manous (Indiana) started for the Growlers and threw five scoreless after the one run in the first. He only allowed six hits and no walks while striking out five. Parker Sanburn (Des Moines Area CC) threw the final two scoreless to earn himself his second save of the season.
Battle Creek 2, Fond du Lac 4
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders took the lead in the bottom of the second and never looked back as they defeated the Battle Creek Bombers 4-2. Battle Creek scored first in the top of the second when Nick Walker (Austin Peay) hit an RBI single. Fondy scored three consecutive in the bottom half when Chris Cornelius (Missouri) scored on a sac fly. One came home from an error and another by a sac fly. Walker drove in one more for the Spiders in the third, but that would be all. The Dock Spiders added an insurance run in the eighth from an RBI single by Brandon Wulff (Stanford) which would go onto be the final score.
Rochester 4, Waterloo 6
The Waterloo Bucks outlasted the Rochester Honkers and won 6-4 to stay on top of the North. The Honkers got their first runs of the game in the first when Zach Zubia (Texas) hit a two-run home run. The Bucks answered to take the lead in the second with from which started from a two-run single by Ian Nelson (Missouri). John Cable (New Orleans) added one more for Waterloo in the third from an RBI double. Rochester came within one when Jordan Hart (Minnesota State) and Zach Zubia (Texas) hit solo shots in the sixth and seventh respectively. Waterloo finally tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when Dalton Hurd (Seattle) scored on a caught stealing to give them enough to win.
La Crosse 3, Willmar 8
The Willmar Stingers used a seven-run seventh to defeat the La Crosse Loggers 8-3. The game went scoreless until the Loggers scored a pair in the sixth from an RBI single by Luke Rasmussen (Long Beach State) and a bases loaded walk. Tyler Murray (Hawaii) put Willmar on the board in the bottom half from and RBI double. Willmar then took the lead while breaking the game open for seven runs in the seventh. Marcus Still (New Mexico State) led off the inning with a walk. He then stole second, advanced from an error and score on an RBI ground out. A two-RBI single and two-RBI double brought in four more while two bases loaded walks brought in a pair. The Loggers wouldn’t go away as Jeremy Ydens (UCLA) scored in the ninth from an RBI ground out, but the next batter got out to end the game.
Rockford, Kenosha (Game 2)
Postponed to: August 7, 7:05 PM
Thunder Bay 2, St. Cloud 8
The St. Cloud Rox only allowed the Thunder Bay Border Cats to score in one inning as they won 8-2. The Rox started the game with four runs in the first three innings. Shane Selman (McNeese State) started the two-run opening inning with an RBI single. Another RBI single scored one in the second and Brendan Illies (UNC) hit a solo shot in the third. Thunder Bay got their only runs in the sixth when Jean-Francois Garon (Bradley) hit a two-run triple. St. Cloud then answered for four in the seventh when Illies got things going with an RBI single. The Rox got two scoreless to end the game from their utility man Drew Avans (Southeastern Louisiana) to keep them tied with Waterloo for first.
Wisconsin Rapids 9, Madison 4
The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters defeated the Madison Mallards behind Jack Eagan’s (Madison College) league-high sixth win. Rapids scored in the first four out of five innings. Christian Jones (Campbell) put the Rafters on the board from a solo shot. Jones went on to hit his second in the fourth from a two-run home run to put them up by four. Rapids got one in the fifth from an RBI single by Dustin Woodcock (SIU-Edwardsville). Madison then answered for one in the bottom half when Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. (California) scored on a fielder’s choice. Mitchell then drove in Doran Turchin (Illinois) in the sixth, but Rapids got two in the seventh from a home run by Jacson McGowan (Purdue). Madison cut their deficit to four in the eighth, but Rapids added two more in the ninth. The Mallards wouldn’t go away as they scored on a wild pitch, but Rapids got the final out from the next batter.
Green Bay 1, Wisconsin 5
The Wisconsin Woodchucks get an overall great performance from their pitching staff in a 5-1 victory over the Green Bay Bullfrogs. The Frogs would get their one and only run in the second when Kyle Benyo (Youngstown State) scored on a sac fly. The Chucks tied the game in the third from a bases loaded walk. Wisconsin finally took the lead from a two-run single in the fifth by Stevie Mangrum (Virginia Tech). Logan Foster (Texas A&M) added one in the sixth for the Chucks with a solo home run. He then scored one more in the eighth from a caught stealing. Drew Hanson (Abilene Christian) threw six in his debut to pick up the win. Andrew Papageorge (San Mateo) pitched three in relief and earned himself his first save of the season.
Eau Claire 5, Mankato 12
The Mankato MoonDogs scored early and tacked on one late to defeat the Eau Claire Express 12-5. The Express scored a pair to start the game from an unearned run by Zach Gilles (Central Michigan) and Zach Ashford (Fresno State) on a wild pitch. Mankato responded right away in the bottom half to score five including a three-run single by Zac Wiley (Bellarmine). Mankato got another two in the second from a two-run double and two more in the third from two errors. The MoonDogs would get one more in the fourth to go up by eight. The Express answered for three in the fifth including a solo home run by Rudy Rott (Ohio). The MoonDogs got one back in the fifth and tacked on another in the eighth to give the them the eventual final score.
Duluth 9, Bismarck 7
The Duluth Huskies took the lead in the fifth for good as they went onto defeat the Bismarck Larks 9-7. The Larks got their first two in the opening inning when Mitch Gallagher (Xavier) doubled in a run and he scored on the next at bat from a sac fly. The Larks got one more in the second until, the Huskies got on the board for five in the third. Chase Strumpf (UCLA) got things going from a two-run single. He would then score from the first of back-to-back RBI doubles which was followed by an RBI single. Bismarck managed to tie the game in the bottom half from a bases loaded walk and a sac fly. Strumpf then led off the fifth with a solo home run to start a two-run inning. Ryan Anderson (UC Davis) started the Larks’ half with a solo shot, but remained down by one. The Huskies then added two in the sixth and held off a late rally by the Larks after allowing one in the eighth to win the game as Kevin Folman (NDSU) picked up his eighth save of the season.
Schedule for July 1:
Kenosha @ Madison (5:05 PM)
La Crosse @ Thunder Bay (5:05 PM)
Duluth @ St. Cloud (6:05 PM)
Fond du Lac @ Wisconsin Rapids (6:05 PM)
Battle Creek @ Green Bay (6:35 PM)
Lakeshore @ Rockford (6:35 PM)
Eau Claire @ Waterloo (6:35 PM)
Willmar @ Rochester (7:05 PM)
Bismarck @ Mankato (7:05 PM)
Wisconsin @ Kalamazoo (7:05 PM)
