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.

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.

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.