The Northwoods League is celebrating 25 years this season. The Rockford Rivets got things going with a shutout of the Green Bay Bullfrogs. The Willmar Stingers also got a great pitching performance which held the defending Champions the St. Cloud Rox to just one run.

Wisconsin Rapids 2, Madison 10

The first game to go final this season was Madison defeating Wisconsin Rapids in a game where the Mallards’ offense came to life. Jayse McLean (NDSU) cleared the bases in the bottom of the first from a double and later came home to scored. Jake Dunham (Northern Illinois) scored the first Rapids run of the season in the third from an RBI ground out. Madison got two more in the sixth when McLean homered. They got four more in the next two innings to go up nine. Rapids managed one more in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch, but Jonah Smith (Creighton) got out of it pitching the final two innings.

Green Bay 0, Rockford 9

The Rockford Rivets scored early and often against the Green Bay Bullfrogs on the way to a 9-0 win. The Rivets jumped on the board with a pair of runs in the third from a single by Braden Mosley (Tennessee Wesleyan). A wild pitch and an error brought two more home for Rockford in the next inning and more of the same happened in the fifth. An RBI double scored one in the sixth and Mosley knocked in two more in the seventh on an RBI single. Cole Bellair (Tennessee Wesleyan) threw seven scoreless for the Rivets while the bullpen did the rest.

Battle Creek 6, Kenosha 7

Kenosha poured it on from the fourth inning on, but Battle Creek wouldn’t let up as the Kingfish won 7-6. The Kingfish went up 2-0 in the second from two hits and an error. The Bombers got one back in the next inning, but Kenosha went up by two once again. Both teams traded runs in the fifth and then Battle Creek took the lead with a three-run sixth. The Bombers defense took a hit with three errors in the bottom half, but only one Kingfish run resulted from it. Roman Trujillo (New Mexico State) had a three hit game for Kenosha and one came in the seventh from a double which eventually gave them the lead again. Battle Creek tied it up with a Mike Madej (Purdue) RBI single and got the eventual game-winner in the eighth from Battle Creek’s sixth error of the game.

Fond du Lac 11, Wisconsin 3

The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders came up big in the seventh and eighth inning as they defeated the Wisconsin Woodchucks 11-3. Mitch Ragan (Creighton) for Fondy and Orsen Josephina (Palm Beach Atlantic) both threw the first four scoreless. The Woodchucks got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, but the Spiders got two in the sixth. The Chucks took the lead back in the bottom half with two more, but the Dock Spiders broke the game open in the seventh. There was a bases loaded walk to tie the game. Then Andrew Bullock (Western Carolina) singled in a run which brought two more in from errors. Bullock added three more in the eighth which gave him a five RBI night and Fond du Lac the win.

La Crosse 10, Waterloo 8

There was a lot of offense scored, but ultimately the La Crosse Loggers scored just enough in the top of the ninth to defeat the Waterloo Bucks 10-8. Waterloo had a nice third inning with three runs on four hits and one error which all got started from a Trey Leonard (Louisville) RBI double. La Crosse got a run back in the fourth, but the Bucks came back with three in the bottom half which was sparked by a two-RBI double from Kaden Polcovich (Northwest Florida State). One of Jordan Holladay’s (South Carolina) three RBI came in the fifth when the Loggers cut their deficit in half. Waterloo came with a pair in the sixth, but the Loggers answered with two of their own in the seventh. Holladay delivered in the eighth and then again in the ninth when he got hit by a pitch to seal the two-run victory.

Duluth 3, Mankato 6

The Mankato MoonDogs held off a late rally form the Duluth Huskies and won the game 6-3. The MoonDogs were on the board first in the opening inning from an RBI ground out. Duluth tied the game in the next inning from an RBI single by Omar Veloz (Fresno State). Evan Klugerman gave Mankato the lead in the sixth from an RBI double. Mankato got another in the seventh and then three more in the eighth. Jonathan Ludwig came on for the final three innings, gave up two in the bottom of the ninth, but held on for the save.

Lakeshore 3, Kalamazoo 4

It took Kalamazoo eight innings to get on the board and when they did, it was enough to defeat Lakeshore 4-3. Lakeshore scored its first run of the year on a wild pitch which scored Sebastian Holte-Mancera (Ellsworth). It was a pitchers dual from that point on. Heath Renz (UW-Whitewater) threw seven innings of shutout baseball for Lakeshore, only allowing five hits, two walks and struck out six. Jeff Burch (Kalamazoo Valley CC) got the start for the Growlers and went 6.1 innings. His second and final run of the game came in the seventh inning after he was pulled. In the very next inning, Kalamazoo managed four runs to take the lead. Donald Ring (Hillside) and Michael Maclean (Wayne State) both went two for four today while also driving in runs. Mason Shinabery (Huntington) came in for the save, allowed one, but stranded the tying run on second with a ground out.

St. Cloud 1, Willmar 6

Willmar got some great pitching performances in the opening tonight as the defeated the defending Champions St. Cloud 6-1. Braden Scott (Olney Central College) got the start for the Stingers and threw six innings, only allowed one earned run on four hits while striking out 11 batters. Willmar added two runs right away in the bottom of the first which was fueled by Jaxon Hallmark (Nebraska) knocking in a run from a double and scoring on the next at bat. The Rox managed to cut its deficit in half with one in the fifth, but the Stingers got another in the bottom half. An error and double scored a pair in the sixth while tacking on one more in the eighth to give them the five-run win.

Eau Claire 7, Rochester 1

The Eau Claire Express doubled the amount of hits Rochester had and won the game 7-1. Justin Slaten (New Mexico) dealt the entire night. He only allowed five hits in six innings, one run, unearned, two walks and six strikeouts. The Eau Claire offense got things started right away when Devon Garcia (Ohio) doubled in a run. Garcia delivered again in the fifth from an RBI single which was one of three during the fourth and fifth. The Honkers’ only run came in the sixth when Alex Baeza (Hawaii) crossed home plate. Nic Ready (Air Force) was the guy in the seventh and eighth as he contributed two of the three runs. Colton Hale (Illinois-Springfield) then pitched the final two and converted the save.

Thunder Bay 1, Bismarck 5

Bismarck held Thunder Bay to just one run in the opening inning as they went on to win the game 5-1. The Border Cats got their one run from an RBI single by Shane Connahan (Georgia College). The Larks hung three in the bottom half and never looked back from there. Kyle Stevens (Murray State) was the ignitor as he hit an RBI single with no outs. Carlos Lopez (Alcorn State) got the start for Bismarck, threw 6.2 innings, only gave up four hits, the one run, walked three and struck out eight. Brandon Barma (Alcorn State) had a three hit night with one coming in the sixth inning which drove in a run. They got one more in the seventh, Jordan Brock (Marian) converted the 2.1 innings save.

Schedule for May 30:

Lakeshore @ Kalamazoo (11:05 AM)

Wisconsin Rapids @ Madison (6:05 PM)

Battle Creek @ Kenosha (6:35 PM)

Fond du Lac @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM)

Green Bay @ Rockford (7:05 PM)

Waterloo @ La Crosse (7:05 PM)

Eau Claire @ Rochester (7:05 PM)

Duluth @ Mankato (7:05 PM)

St. Cloud @ Willmar (7:05 PM)

Thunder Bay @ Bismarck (7:05 PM)