The Rochester Honkers are the ‘First Half Champions’ of the North Division of the NWL. The Rochester Honkers won the North Division with a 19-11 record, 2.5 games ahead of St. Cloud and Willmar. The Eau Claire Express are battling the Green Bay Bullfrogs for the South Division First Half Championship. The two play each other the next two days with Green Bay needing to sweep to clinch the tiebreaker. The first half of the season ends July 8th.
Thunder Bay 8, Brainerd 3 Thunder Bay jumped out to a 7-0 lead and cruised to victory at an 8-3 clip against the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers. Thunder Bay pounded out 15 hits and were led by Ryan Court (Illinois State) who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI.
Taylor Massey (Dallas Baptist) was at it again Tuesday night for the Waterloo Bucks as he moved to 4-0 on the season. Massey threw a complete game two hitter while the Bucks beat the Battle Creek Bombers 3-0. Massey walked three in the game, but also struck out three. His ERA is now at 0.69 in 39.1 innings pitched. This is his second shutout of the season for the Bucks.
Troy Scott (Washington) was instrumental in beating the Wisconsin Woodchucks Tuesday night by a score of 13-6. The Green Bay Bullfrogs first baseman was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and five RBI. His two hits were both home runs which moved his season total to four home runs. He is currently hitting .373 with 15 RBI in 21 games. Kevin Pillar had a nice game in the loss for the ‘Chucks going 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI.
Eau Claire 4, Wisconsin Rapids 3 The Eau Claire Express took game one of the double header by a score of 6-3 over the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. The Express used a three run homer from Steve McGuiggan (Illinois Chicago) to fuel their offense.
Robbie Collier (North Florida) threw well for the Duluth Huskies as they beat the Thunder Bay Border Cats in game one of the double header 3-1. Collier threw 6.0 innings while surrendering only two hits and one earned run. The lefty moved to 3-1 on the season with a 2.03 ERA while striking out 26 in 26.1 innings pitched. Collier was 4-1 for North Florida in 2010 while throwing 41.0 innings.
Collin Kuhn (Arkansas) had a big day at the plate on Monday night for the Green Bay Bullfrogs. Kuhn helped the Bullfrogs beat the Wisconsin Woodchucks 12-6 in extra innings. Kuhn, a Beaver Dam, WI native, was 3-for-5 on the night with two runs scored and two RBI. Kuhn hit his third double of the season and also was hit by a pitched and walked. Kuhn is currently hitting .286 in only five games this season. Kuhn hit .336 for the Arkansas Razorbacks this season and led them to a 43-21 record. He was 17-19 on stolen bases and was second on the team with 16 homeruns.
Thunder Bay 6, Duluth 5 Duluth took game one of the double header by a score of 3-1 at Port Arthur Stadium. The Huskies left fielder Kyle Roliard (Louisiana Tech) went 1-for-2 on the night with one run scored and two RBI.
Brainerd native Nick Anderson (St. Cloud State) earned the win for the Lunkers today after beating the Duluth Huskies 2-1. Anderson threw 7.0 innings of scoreless baseball while giving up only three hits. Anderson lowered his ERA to 0.33 and improved to 3-0 on the season. He has pitched 27 innings this season while striking out 18 and walking only six.
Justin Jirschele (Wisconsin Stevens Point) had a great day at the plate for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. The Rafters beat the La Crosse Loggers by a score of 4-3 in front of 837 fans. Jirschele was 3-for-5 on the night with two runs scored and eventually scored the game’s winning run in walk-off fashion. The second baseman is the first Rafter to win the game in walk-off fashion in franchise history.
