Published On: June 12th, 2019

Duluth moves to 7-10 on the year

Ryne Ryskoski

Duluth, Minn — The Duluth Huskies (7-10) and the Waterloo Bucks (9-8) faced off twice on Wednesday in a doubleheader. Game one took place at noon and game two began at 6:35 pm.

Game One

 The Huskies found the scoreboard in the first inning when Noah Marcelo and Nic Kent came home on a Lance Ford RBI groundout, and a James Free II RBI single respectively to give Duluth an early 2-0 lead. Kent got his first extra-base hit of the season on a double to the right-center gap while Free II finished the game 3-4 which improved his average to .545 while also getting a walk, an RBI, and a run.

After going scoreless in the top half of the 1st inning, Waterloo scratched across 2 runs in the top of the 2nd after Cole Brooks and Bennett Hostetler scored. Brooks was able to come home on an error while Hostetler scored on a wild pitch.

The Bucks scored their 3rd run of the game to take the lead on a Blake Berry RBI single over Dexter Swims’ head at 3rd base to score Lorenzo Phillips. The next batter Caleb LittleJim nearly hit a 2-run home run, but the ball bounced off the top of the wall in left field which allowed LittleJim to get to 3rd base for a triple that scored Blake Berry. Cole Brooks would then bring LittleJim home with a single to center field to stretch Waterloo’s lead to 3.

Alex Ronnebaum scored on Dylan Phillips’ second triple of the game in the top of the 4th inning, making it 6-2 advantage Waterloo. Ronnebaum also made a brilliant play when he laid out to catch a pop fly in front of the Huskies’ dugout.

Mason Bryant would leave the game in the 5th inning after loading the bases. Bryant finished with 9 runs (7 earned) given up with 8 hits and 5 walks across 4 IP. Dan Hansen would come in to pitch in his Huskies debut. Blake Berry would be walked home, and Alonzo Rubalcaba proceeded to hit a 3 run double to right center to make it 10-2 Waterloo.

James Free II led off the bottom of the 6th with a double off the center field wall and would be brought home on a Dexter Swims RBI single to center field. Milan Walla continued the scoring with an RBI double, bringing home Tyler Lozano to make it 10-4 with Waterloo still in front.

The Bucks would scratch across a run in the 8th and two more in the 9th, which would mark the final score of 13-4, giving Waterloo a series advantage of two games to none.

Game Two

 The Bucks were the team to strike first in game two of the doubleheader with a Bennett Hostetler single that scored Jake Gitter. The Huskies would strand two baserunners however with a double play to leave it at 1-0.

In the top of the 2nd however, a Huskies error would allow 3 runs to come home on a Bryce Wooldridge single to make it 4-0 Waterloo. Wooldridge would end up at 3rd base on the play. But with no outs and runners at the corners, the Huskies turned a beautiful 3-1-5 triple play to end the Bucks half of the 2nd.

After Alex Rao exited the game with 4 runs (2 earned) and 8 hits given up in 3 IP, Brodie Paulson entered the game and gave up a 2 run single to Bennett Hostetler that scored Greg Anderberg and Bryce Wooldridge to make it 6-0 Waterloo.

In the 4th inning, Ramon Enriquez drove a 1-0 fastball over the wall in straightaway center field to give the Huskies their first run of the ballgame. With that solo home run, Enriquez now owns the top spot on the team in home runs with 3. The Huskies would load the bases with two outs but Bucks Right Fielder Cole Brooks would make a great sliding catch to leave the score at 6-1.

The Bucks then scored another 2 runs on a Mike Nyisztor double in the top of the 6th to stretch Waterloo’s lead to 7. Evan Yedinak would come in to relieve Brodie Paulsen in the top of the 7th, who allowed 4 runs on 3 hits and struck out 5 over 3 IP.

Patrick Ferguson brought home Mike Nyisztor in the top of the 8th inning with the Bucks’ 12th hit of the night to make the score 9-2. Bennett Hostetler then doubled home Ferguson with a line shot to the left-center wall to give the Bucks double-digit runs with 10. Hostetler went 4-4 with 3 RBI and a walk in tonight’s contest.

After Dylan Phillips struck out the Huskies side in the bottom of the 8th, Jonathan Pierce came in to pitch the top of the 9th for Duluth and pitched a scoreless inning.

The Huskies would find the scoreboard once in the bottom of the 9th when Wade Meckler, who made his Duluth Huskies debut in game two, came across to score on a Lance Ford groundout for the final run of the game. The final score would be 10-3.

The Huskies and the Bucks will play game four of the series tomorrow night with first pitch at 6:35 pm. Stay connected with the Huskies on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for upcoming news.

 

###

 

The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 26th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.duluthhuskies.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Huskies as your favorite team.

Latest News