Loggers’ bats propel La Crosse to game one win
Duluth, Minn — The Duluth Huskies went up against the La Crosse Loggers Thursday night. Duluth began their 2nd five-game road trip of summer after earning a record of 3-2 in their first five-game trip. Troy Newell made his third start of the year for the Huskies and faced Landry Wideman in game one of the two-game series.
The Loggers started fast in the 1st inning when their first three hitters reached base on a walk, a single, and a double. Schwartz would be picked off for the first out of the inning, but it wouldn’t matter much as Ryan Holgate gave La Crosse an early 2-0 lead on a 2-run double.
La Crosse continued to score in the next inning, starting with a JT Schwartz groundout that brought home Jack Filby. Another groundout from Matthew Stinebiser would score Levi Usher to make it a 4-run ballgame through 2 innings.
Danny Zimmerman hit his 2nd home run in as many days in the top of the 3rd inning to cut La Crosse’s lead back down to 3 runs. Christian Kirtley would get on base with a walk but Landry Wideman induced a pop out and a double play to end the Huskies’ momentum.
The Loggers got back on the scoreboard in the 4th inning when with the bases loaded, Ryan Holgate hit a bases-clearing double to stretch La Crosse’s lead from 3 runs to 6 runs. The Loggers totaled 7 extra base hits in tonight’s game.
Newell would not return as Alex Rao took the mound in the bottom of the 5th inning. Newell gave up 7 runs on 8 hits and walked 6 while striking out 1. The pitching change didn’t faze the Loggers though as Levi Usher and JT Schwartz both got on base to start the inning. The beef of La Crosse’s batting order continued to excel with runners in scoring position as Brady Allen cleared the bags with a 2-run double to give the Loggers a 9-1 lead. Tony Bullard then smacked a solo home run, giving the Loggers their 5th run of the inning and extending their lead to 11. La Crosse’s top 6 hitters in the batting order were Duluth’s kryptonite as they combined to go 11 for 22 and drove in 14 runs while drawing 9 walks in tonight’s game. Alex Rao was then replaced by Cole Milam in the bottom of the 6th.
Marius Balandis relieved Landry Wideman in the top of the 6th inning after Wideman pitched 5 strong innings in his 5th appearance this season. He gave up 1 run on 1 hit, struck out 4 and walked 4. Balandis threw a scoreless 6th, but after Ramon Enriquez got on base in the top of the 7th inning with a single, Danny Zimmerman hit his 2nd home run of the evening to give Duluth 3 runs. Zimmerman drove in all of the Huskies’ runs in tonight’s game.
Cole Milam threw scoreless 6th and 7th innings, but with the game’s score, Huskies Manager Marcus Pointer opted to place Outfielder Milan Walla on the mound as the bottom of the 8th began. Walla previously allowed 1 run in 4 IP when he pitched nine days ago against the Waterloo Bucks. La Crosse would load the bases with 2 outs for Ryan Holgate, who doubled home JT Schwartz and Jack Filby to make the score 14-3. Holgate had a career night as he went 3 for 5 with 7 RBI and a walk.
Tyler Shingledecker allowed no Huskies runs in the top of the 9th inning as he secured the game one victory for the Loggers by a score of 14-3.
The Huskies face the Loggers once again tomorrow night. First pitch is set for 6:35 pm with live game coverage on 92.1 The fan and twinportssportshub.com beginning at 6:25 pm. All Duluth Huskies and Northwoods League games are live streamed online at portal.stretchlive.com/nwl to watch.
Be sure to follow the Duluth Huskies on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat all season long. Check out duluthhuskies.com for tickets to upcoming games. For more in-depth news on the Huskies, be sure to follow @XtraInningsWithRyne and @JoeChatzHuskies on Facebook.
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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.
