The top two overall teams in the North faced off tonight as the Waterloo Bucks defeated the St. Cloud Rox by ten to even things up. Three teams in the South remain undefeated in the second. Rapids and Battle Creek both won to give the Rafters a 6.5 game lead over the Bombers for first. Kalamazoo defeated Wisconsin as the Growlers only one a total of nine games in the first half.

Wisconsin Rapids 3, Lakeshore 2

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters scored right away and never looked back as they defeated the Lakeshore Chinooks 3-2. The first run came in the opening inning when Dustin Woodcock (SIU-Edwardsville) singled in an unearned run. Rapids added another in the third when Bryson Stott (UNLV) scored on another error. A wild pitch scored Stott for the third run, but the Chinooks added one of their own from an error when Daniel DeSimone (Oklahoma State) came home. Lakeshore came within one in the sixth from a pass ball. Nick Avila (San Joaquin Delta) and Cameron Busby then (Belmont Abbey) relieved Quinn DiPasquale (SIT) to end the game with no further damage.

St. Cloud 4, Waterloo 14

The Waterloo Bucks exploded for nine in the third as they went on to defeat the St. Cloud Rox 14-4. The Rox scored first in the opening inning from an RBI single by Shane Selman (McNeese State) and another in the second on a bases loaded hit by pitch. Waterloo quickly took the lead with one swing of the bat when Deion Thompson hit a three-run home run in the second. The Bucks then broke the game open in the third. Drew Greenwood (Bellarmine) got things going when he doubled in a run which was followed by an error that scored a pair. Two unearned runs resulted from that while Joe Genord (South Florida) hit a three-run home run and Brandon Gutzler (Murray State) doubled in a run to end the inning. The Bucks added another in the fourth from a fielder’s choice, but the Rox weren’t going down without a fight. Matthew Tarantino (Pacific) doubled in a run in the ninth, but the next two batters got out to end the game.

Eau Claire 6, Rochester 10

The Rochester Honkers took the lead in the eighth and defeated the Eau Claire Express 10-6. The Express scored three which started with Matt Duce (Dallas Baptist) leading off the second with a home run. The Honkers responded to get one back in the bottom half when Johnathan Fleek (Western Illinois) doubled in a run. Rochester tied the game with a home run from Zach Zubia (Texas) in the fifth. Eau Claire went ahead by three in the seventh from three consecutive runs which started by Rudy Rott (Ohio) singling in a run. The Honkers got one in the seventh and then broke the game open in the eighth. A bases loaded walk sent the first run home which was followed by Zubia doubling in two. A sac fly, single to right and a wild pitch brought in three more to put Rochester ahead enough to win the game.  

Rockford 7, Green Bay 5 (10 Innings)

The Rockford Rivets needed 10 innings to defeat the Green Bay Bullfrogs 7-5. Ryan Hutchinson (Illinois State) led off the game with a solo home run for Rockford. The Frogs then responded to get three in the bottom half including a solo shot by Alex Pener (Scottsdale CC). Rockford came within one in the third from a solo shot by Patrick Loeffler (Indiana), but the Frogs answered with one in the bottom half. Green Bay added one more in the fifth, but Rockford began a comeback with a solo home run by Hunter Feduccia (Louisiana State-Eunice). The Rivets tied it up in the eighth when they got one from a balk and an RBI single by Brian Klein (Texas Tech). Two innings later with one out, Feduccia hit a two-run shot in the top of the tenth for the eventual game-winner.

Madison 0, Battle Creek 3

The Battle Creek Bombers used three pitchers to throw a no-hitter and defeat the Madison Mallards 3-0. The Bombers scored first with in the opening inning when Nick Walker (Austin Peay) hit an RBI single followed by an RBI ground out. Sam Armstrong drew a walk to put a runner on for Madison in the second, but he was stranded. Tom Stoffel (Virginia Tech) singled in a run for Battle Creek in the third to put the Bombers up three. Maverick Hanley (Stanford) then led off the seventh for the Mallards with a walk and Armstrong reached on an error, but starter Jared Middleton (Western Florida) finished the inning by getting the next three guys out. Middleton finished his outing with seven hitless on three walks while striking out ten. Mark Quinby (UC San Diego) and Colton Bradley (Central Michigan) retired the next nine to preserve the no-hitter and win.

Willmar 5, Mankato 11

The Mankato MoonDogs scored five right away and went on to defeat the Willmar Stingers 11-5. Zac Wiley (Bellarmine) started the five-run inning with a three-run shot. Two more came from RBI singles to give Mankato an early big lead. Mankato then got a two-run triple from Daniel Amaral (UCLA) and an RBI single to follow in the third. Willmar got on the board with three in the fifth which included back-to-back RBI doubles from Marcus Still (New Mexico State) and Luke Becker (Kentucky). Two error were committed in the bottom half which brought home one more for the MoonDogs. Mankato added number ten in the sixth, but the Stingers wouldn’t go away as they got a two-run double by Josh Bissonette (Baylor). The MoonDogs tacked on one more in the eighth and got a scoreless ninth from Joey Gerber (Illinois) to end the game.

Kalamazoo 9, Wisconsin 8

The Kalamazoo Growlers broke a tie in the ninth and defeated the Wisconsin Woodchucks 9-8. Kalamazoo got three in the opening inning which started from an RBI single by Jack Duffy (Missouri State). The Chucks scored one in the bottom half when Ivan Nunez (Hillsborough CC) hit a solo shot. Wisconsin tied the game in the second from an RBI single and a sac fly and took the lead in the fourth from an RBI single. The Growlers then tied it in the next inning from an error. The Growlers took the lead with three in the seventh from an RBI double by Charlie Carpenter (USC Upstate), and back-to-back RBI singles. The Chucks got two back in the bottom half when Trey Dawson (Chipola) hit a home run. Kalamazoo got one in the eighth, but the Woodchucks tied it with two in the bottom half. Kalamazoo then got the eventual game-winner in the top of the ninth on an RBI single from Matt Koehler (Western Carolina).

Fond du Lac 6, Kenosha 3

The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders took the lead for the second time in the sixth and defeated the Kenosha Kingfish 6-3. Fondy scored first in the second when Luke Mangieri (Bradley) came home on a sac fly. The Kingfish took the lead in the fifth when Jesse Wilkening (Nebraska) singled in two and another came across from a wild pitch. Fondy responded in the next inning when Joe Breaux (McClennan CC) hit knocked in two from a single and later scored on an error. The Spiders scored a pair more in the seventh as Colton Neel (Memphis) threw the final four scoreless to get his second save of the season.

Duluth 5, La Crosse 6

The La Crossed Loggers defeated the Duluth Huskies 6-5 tonight in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth. The Huskies scored a pair in the opening inning when they got one from an RBI ground out and an RBI double from Luke Roskam (Nebraska). The Loggers answered to get one back in the bottom half when Luke Rasmussen (Long Beach State) singled in a run. Korey Lee (California) tied the game for La Crosse in the third from an RBI triple. Duluth took the lead again when Dean Nevarez (San Diego State) led off the fifth with a solo shot and Isaac Collins (Creighton) doubled in a run. Rasmussen then scored from a wild pitch to put the Loggers behind one in the bottom half. Both teams then traded runs in the seventh. The Loggers tied the game in the bottom of the ninth from an RBI fielder’s choice and won the game when Lee drove in Cameron Cannon (Arizona) on a sac fly.

Thunder Bay 2, Bismarck 5

The Bismarck Larks tacked on two insurance runs late and defeated the Thunder Bay Border Cats 5-2. Thunder Bay scored a pair in the third when Gabriel Lozada (Hillsborough CC) singled in a run and scored from a sac fly. The Larks tied the game in the fourth from a two-run double by Newt Johnson (South Dakota State). Bismarck took the lead in the sixth on a wild pitch and tacked on two more from an RBI single and a bases loaded walk in the eighth. Andy Lalonde (Southern New Hampshire) earned the win after six strong innings while Jake Kari (Augsburg) and Nick Boyles (UNC-Asheville) threw three scoreless out of the bullpen to end the game.

 

Schedule for July 8:

Duluth @ La Crosse (6:05 PM)

Thunder Bay @ Bismarck (6:05 PM)

Rockford @ Green Bay (6:35 PM)

Fond du Lac @ Kenosha (6:35 PM)

Wisconsin Rapids @ Lakeshore (6:35 PM)

Kalamazoo @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM)

St. Cloud @ Waterloo (6:35 PM)

Eau Claire @ Rochester (7:05 PM)

Mankato @ Willmar (7:05 PM)

Madison @ Battle Creek (7:05 PM)