Andrew Eichstaedt (Wisconsin Whitewater) had a great day at the plate for the Green Bay Bullfrogs. Eichstaedt was 4-for-6 in the win against Battle Creek with four RBI and one run scored. The 6’1’’ 190 pound utility player has seven hits in three games for Green Bay. Chris O’Dowd had three hits in the Loggers win with two RBI and a homerun.
The NWL 2010 season is winding down and the playoff scenarios are abundant. There are eight teams within the North and South Division that have an opportunity to make the playoffs. The North Division has four teams atop the standings and are only separated by 2.0 games. The South Division also has four teams who are trailing the 1st Half Champion Eau Claire Express. The Express are one of the South Division playoff representatives while the other four teams are separated by 1.5 games.
The South Division leading Eau Claire Express beat the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters 11-2 in front of 2,316 fans. Eau Claire scored in all but two innings and had four batters with RBI’s on the night. Drew Heithoff (Augustana) was 2-for-2 with three runs scored, two RBI and a base on balls while Nathan Orf (Illinois Chicago) drove in four runs. The Fadness’ brothers, Will (South Mountain CC) and Nolan (Wisconsin OshKosh), combined to score five runs and drive in two RBI. Matthew McDaniel (San Diego State) earned his 7th win of the season after throwing a three hitter thru 6.0 innings.
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.
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.
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.
Thunder Bay took game one of the double header 10-5 as they had 15 hits while only allowing five Huskies hits. The Border Cats combined to throw a five hitter while using three pitchers. Will Krasne (Rollings-FL) earned the win after throwing 2.1 innings in relief while only allowing two hits. Ken Battiston (Eastern Michigan) knocked in three runs in his three-hit performance while Ryan Court (Illinois State) also had three RBI. JoJo Sharrar (Utah) had two hits and two RBI in the loss for the Huskies.
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.
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.
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.
