The NWL regular season plays ends on August 16th, but there are many meaningful games in the next week. Both the North and South Divisions of the NWL are tight, as eight teams have opportunities to make the 2010 playoffs. The winner or the North and South 2nd Half will join the Rochester Honkers and Eau Claire Express as they won the 1st Half race.
Jimmy Waters (Kansas) had two huge games Wednesday night against the Alexandria Beetles as he had three homeruns on the night. Waters was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI in game one. He was 2-for-4 in game two with three runs scored and four RBI as the Honker swept the Beetles. The Council Bluffs, IA native is hitting .301 in 48 games with 25 extra base hits and 40 RBI.
Blake Schwartz (Minnesota State Mankato) earned his 5th win of the season as he threw a four hitter against the St. Cloud River Bats. Schwartz threw 7.1 innings and only allowed one earned run while striking out five River Bats. The 6’3’’ Rosemount, MN product is having a great year for the MoonDogs on the mound. He has a 3.05 ERA in 65.0 innings pitched while only walking 15 batters.
The South Division leaders beat the Battle Creek Bombers 7-0 as the pitching staff was once again impressive. Ian Campbell (Corpus Christi) earned the win throwing 7.0 innings and only allowing three hits. Nathan Orf (Illinois Chicago) was 2-for-3 in the win with two runs scored and one RBI while leadoff hitter Ty Forney (Yavapai) also had two hits. The Bombers were led by Sean Deegan (Penn State) as he had a three hit night.
Brett Rettenmeier (Viterbo) had a huge day at the plate as the La Crosse Loggers beat the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters in a much needed win. La Crosse took the game 11-5 while Rettenmeier had four hits and drove in five runs. The righty is currently hitting .386 and hit his second homerun in two games. The utility player with just 44 at-bats on the season now has 11 RBI’s on the season.
Ian Campbell (Corpus Christi) of the Eau Claire Express earned his 7th win of the season as he beat the Battle Creek Bombers Tuesday night. Campbell threw 7.0 innings of three hit baseball while striking out three batters. The 6’5’’ righty from Glendale, AZ has a 1.36 ERA in eight appearances on the year. Tim Verthein (Wisconsin La Crosse) of the St. Cloud River Bats also threw well as he earned the win against the Mankato MoonDogs.
The Honkers pounded out 12 hits and scored 8 runs against the Alexandria Beetles in an 8-3 win in Alexandria. The Honkers Jimmy Water (Kansas) homered and drove in four runs in the victory the pitching staff threw a gem. Aaron Siefken (Iowa Central) was effective from the starting role while Josh McKeon (Upper Iowa) picked up the win in relief after throwing a hitless final 3.0 innings.
Mike Marjama led La Crosse as the Logger offense exploded on Monday night. Marjama had four hits and five RBI in the win over the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. The third baseman is currently hitting .285 with 11 extra base hits and has driven in 29 runs. Marjama is one of the best defensive corner infielders in the NWL, but has come on strong at the plate as of late. He had an eleven game hit streak broken just last week by the Waterloo Bucks.
Robbie Collier (North Florida) earned his seventh win of the season as he struck out 13 Border Cats. The Huskies beat Thunder Bay 6-1 thanks to Collier throwing a 7.0 innings two hitter while only walking two. The 6’0’’ righty has thrown 57.1 innings this summer and now has a 1.73 ERA. His ERA currently ranks him 6th in the NWL in 2010.
Wisconsin 6, Eau Claire 4 The Wisconsin Woodchucks beat the Eau Claire Express 6-4 in the only game of the night in NWL play. The ‘Chucks had five hits and committed three errors, but capitalized on four early runs. Wisconsin was led by Patrick Terry who drove in four runs while left fielder Chris Amezquita (Pepperdine) had two RBI. Wisconsin starting pitcher Jason Martyn (Rio Hondo) earned the win after throwing a three hitter over 3.0 innings. The Express were led offensively by Josh Scheffert (Nebraska) who drove in two runs in the loss. Duluth, Rochester The double-header between the Rochester Honkers and the Duluth Huskies has been canceled due to field conditions.
