Tough 5th inning allows Bucks to take strong lead to secure win
101 North 35th Ave West Duluth, MN 55807
Zach Linfield, zachlinfield@gmail.com
Duluth, Minn. — On a much anticipated day in the eyes of fans across the Northland, the Huskies returned home to an (almost) sold out crowd of 850+ where Wade Stadium only allows a capacity of 900. Much to their disappointment, the fans showed up but the bats remained in hibernation in the home opener. Waterloo posted five runs in the 5th inning against the California State – Stanislaus reliever, Connor Semone, and the scoreboard saw doughnuts after that. Through some impressive pitching, Harrison Cook, Eli Emerson, and Camron Landry shut out the Huskies as new Bucks’ skipper, Ryan Gaynor, picked up his first win of his head coaching career.
On Duluth’s end, the howling crowd saw the hometown kid, Ben Pedersen, return home to toss four scoreless innings on two hits and racked five Bucks on strikeouts. The wheels then fell off the wagon when the Huskies turned to the bullpen in the top of the 5th. After not pitching in the spring due to COVID-19 protocols in California, a shaky start may have been expected from Semone. Waterloo’s Garrett McGowan (1-5) and Tavan Shahidi (2-4) rocked back-to-back two RBI shots which propelled the Bucks into the everlasting lead. After two-thirds of an inning pitched and five base on balls allowed, manager Marcus Pointer went to the bullpen and Brody Maynard took the hill and threw for two and one third of three hit, no run ball. The last Huskie to take the mound tonight was Michael Altman, he tossed for two innings and allowed one hit.
The offensive end for the Huskies, the bats were as cold as the brisk wind coming off Lake Superior. In the first game using wood bats and after a whole year off for some of the athletes, the Huskies saw leadoff hitter Zac White go 2-for-4 and was the only hitter to claim two knocks. Michael Brooks reached twice, but one on an error. The Huskies left five on base on five hits.
The Huskies got their first runner past 1st base in the bottom of the 5th, then a fielder’s choice from Cooper Trinkle and a fly out from Kyle Westfall ended the threat.
The Huskies fell to 0-1 on the season and will return to The Wade tomorrow to try and even the series at one against Waterloo with Arkansas product, Will McEntire taking the bump for a 6:35 PM CT start.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27 th 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, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.