The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters have clinched the first half South Division crown with their win over Fond du Lac and Kenosha’s loss to Madison. Waterloo and St. Cloud continue to remain tied and keep the North Division race tight. The Rox defeated Duluth in a two-run game tonight and the Bucks defeated the Express by five.
Kenosha 6, Madison 7
The Madison Mallards came back and defeated the Kenosha Kingfish 7-6 tonight. The Kingfish scored first from a sac fly by Tim Millard (Dallas Baptist) in the top half of the opening inning, but the Mallards answered for two in the bottom half from back-to-back errors. Maverick Handley (Stanford) singled in a run in the second and Doran Turchin (Illinois) hit a solo shot in the third to put Madison up by three. Kenosha answered in the fifth to take the lead from a five-run inning. Mike Madej (Purdue) started things with an RBI double and he scored from a two-run single in the next at bat. The Mallards then got one back in the fifth, tied the game in the sixth and took the lead from a wild pitch in the seventh. David Stover (Marietta) pitched two scoreless in relief to get the win and Dom Savino (Albany) closed it out to get the save.
La Crosse 5, Thunder Bay 4
The La Crosse Loggers needed ten innings to defeat the Thunder Bay Border Cats 5-4 as they held off a late rally in the tenth. Thunder Bay scored first in the bottom half of the opening inning from a sac fly by Kevin Biondic (Maryland). The Border Cats got another in the second, but La Crosse responded to take the lead with three in the fifth. Back-to-back RBI singles by Cameron Blake (Texas A&M) and David Villar (South Florida) put the Loggers ahead. The Border Cats eventually tied the game in the sixth from a solo shot by Colton Thomas (South Alabama) which would ultimately put the game in extras. La Crosse scored twice in the tenth from a sac fly and an RBI double by Cameron Cannon (Arizona). Thunder Bay attempted a comeback by getting one from an RBI ground out, but the next batter grounded out to end the game.
Duluth 2, St. Cloud 4
The St. Cloud Rox pulled away late in the game to defeat the Duluth Huskies 4-2. Shane Selman (McNeese) put the Rox on the board with a leadoff home run in the second. St. Cloud got another in the fourth from an RBI single. Camryn Williams (Dallas Baptist) put the Huskies on the board from a solo shot in the fifth. Duluth tied the game in the sixth from a sac fly, but the Rox took the lead in the seventh and added an insurance run in the eighth. Three Rox relievers threw a scoreless inning each to end the game including Brent Killman (Georgetown) picking up his fifth save.
Fond du Lac 2, Wisconsin Rapids 6
The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters held the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders to just one inning of scoring in a 6-2 victory. Rapids scored four in the third to take an early lead which started from an RBI single by Bryson Stott (UNLV). The Rafters added two more to their lead in the fourth from an RBI single by Ryan Stekl (Canisius) and an RBI double from Christian Jones (Campbell). Fondy got on the board with a pair of runs in the sixth from RBI singles by Joe Breaux (McClennan CC) and Thomas Luevano (Creighton). That would be all for scoring as Mason McReaken (SIU-Edwardsville) pitched over three scoreless innings to pick up his first save of the season.
Battle Creek 13, Green Bay 1
The Battle Creek Bombers poured it on early and often against the Green Bay Bullfrogs tonight to win 13-1. The Bombers started the game by scoring a pair of runs in the opening inning from an RBI double by Alex Howard (Arkansas State) and a run scored by him from a sac fly. Tom Stoffel (Virginia Tech) hit one out in the third to put Battle Creek up four. The Bombers got three more in the fifth from an RBI single and a two-run double. Green Bay answered to score one in the bottom half from Riley Smith (Minnesota), but the Bombers tacked on four more in the eighth. Howard knocked in another one from a double in the ninth which was followed by another RBI double to give the Bombers the eventual final score.
Lakeshore 2, Rockford 3
The Rockford Rivets scored three late to pull ahead and defeat the Lakeshore Chinooks 3-2. The Chinooks scored first in the top half of the opening inning when Matthew Mika (Central Florida) came home from an RBI ground out. Connor Kimple (Oklahoma State) put Lakeshore ahead by two from a solo shot in the sixth. The Rivets responded to take the lead with three runs in the seventh and never looked back. JC DeMuri (Quincy) scored first from a pass ball which was followed by an RBI single by Trevor Paradoski (Texas Tech) and an RBI double from Eric Cole (Arkansas). The Rivets used two relievers to pitch the final two scoreless including Lukas Veinbergs (San Jacinto) earning his first save of the season.
Eau Claire 3, Waterloo 8
The Waterloo Bucks scored six runs right away and defeated the Eau Claire Express 8-3 tonight. The Express scored first in the opening inning when Tyrus Greene (California) singled in a run. The Bucks took the lead from a two-run shot by Ian Nelson (Missouri) and added four more in the bottom half. Waterloo scored single runs in the second and third, but Eau Claire responded for two in the next two. Justin Evans (Columbus State) hit a home run in the fourth and an RBI single brought in the another in the fifth. Cody Dye (New Mexico) kept the Bucks scoreless for the final 2.1, but didn’t get any run support. The Bucks got the final three scoreless from two relievers to end the game and secure the win.
Willmar 11, Rochester 9
The Rochester Honkers held off a late rally by the Willmar Stingers to win 11-9. The Honkers scored first in the bottom half of the opening inning when Morgan McCullough (Oregon) came home from a wild pitch. The Stingers answered with four in the second to take the lead. Tyler Reichenborn (Iowa Western) got things going with a three-run double and later scored on a sac fly. Rochester wouldn’t go away as they got one in the bottom half. The Stingers produced another four-run inning in the third which included a two-run double by Nate Sterijevski (Bethune Cookman). Luke Becker (Kentucky) added two more for Willmar in the fourth from a home run. The Honkers answered back for two in the sixth and two in the seventh to make it a four-run game. Each team traded runs in the eighth and the Honkers got two in the ninth including an RBI single from Konnor Zickefoose (UC Irvine), but the next batter flew out to end the game.
Bismarck 1, Mankato 11
The Mankato MoonDogs held the Bismarck Larks to just two hits in an 11-1 victory. Mankato scored six in the first three innings. Toby Hanson (Minnesota) hit an RBI single that scored two in the first which was followed by another RBI single. With the MoonDogs up six, the Larks scored their only run of the game when Austin Paschke (Faulkner) came home from a bases loaded walk. Mankato would score a pair in the fifth and then a run each in the seventh and eighth from RBI doubles by Kenton Crews (Evansville) and Alvaro Rubalcaba (CSUN). The MoonDogs got the final four scoreless from Cooper Powell (Nevada Reno) after TJ Satterly (Rend Lake) threw five hitless innings.
Wisconsin 6, Kalamazoo 5
The Wisconsin Woodchucks hold off a late rally from the Kalamazoo Growlers to win 6-5. The Chucks hung a five spot in the second to get on the board first which included a three-run shot by Trey Dawson (Chipola). The Growlers responded for one in the bottom half when Michael Diffley (San Diego State) came home on an RBI ground out. Wisconsin got one in the seventh from a wild pitch, but Kalamazoo wouldn’t go away. They scored four in the bottom half which included a two-run triple by Jack Duffy (Missouri State). That wasn’t enough as Orsen Josephona (Hillsborough CC) closed out the ninth to earn his tenth save of the season.
Schedule for July 2:
Willmar @ Rochester (1:05 PM)
Wisconsin Rapids @ Fond du Lac (1:05 PM) (Game 1)
La Crosse @ Thunder Bay (1:35 PM)
Rockford @ Lakeshore (1:35 PM)
Eau Claire @ Waterloo (2:05 PM)
St. Cloud @ Duluth (3:05 PM)
Wisconsin Rapids @ Fond du Lac (3:05 PM) (Game 2)
Wisconsin @ Kalamazoo (3:05 PM)
Bismarck @ Mankato (6:05 PM)
Madison @ Kenosha (6:05 PM)
Battle Creek @ Green Bay (6:35 PM)
