Duluth falls to Bismarck after the exciting walk-off Saturday night
Zach Linfield, zachlinfield@gmail.com
Duluth, Minn. — Duluth tried to take the electric ending of last night’s game and push that towards Sunday in the series cap between the Huskies and the Bismarck Larks. Duluth and Bismarck have had a season series that has already seen two walk-offs and a game that gave Duluth their first win against a team from the Great Plains West Division after losing their first eight. The Larks improved their record against the Huskies with Sunday’s win by a score of 10-6.
The usual spot-on stuff from Huskies’ starter Will McEntire (ND, 3.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) faltered a touch today as the Larks found consistent ways on base on McEntire’s second shortest start of the season. A handful of errors didn’t help the Arkansas’ products day as Bismarck scored only one earned run against the Huskies’ big right-handed hurler. He was relieved by Matthew Craven (L, 0-2), who was also short on luck with his defense as Bismarck’s Derek Shoen scored on an error to begin the 5th inning, Craven allowed one earned run in that inning.
Duluth trailed 2-0 going into the 3rd inning when it looks as if that Saturday night spark may have still been alive. Blayne Robinson came through with a two-run RBI to take a 3-2 lead. Bismarck led 5-3 after five innings of play. Brody Maynard entered as relief of Matthew Craven to begin the 6th and had trouble finding the strike zone through the first couple of batters. When he found it, bat found ball for solid contact. After playing three runs in the 6th, the Larks never looked back.
Ray Watt (3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) was impressive in entering for Maynard to finish the 6th. Watt’s ERA today was well above 10.00 and is now down to 5.68. Xavier Carter provided a wave at the plate going 3-for-5 with a 9th inning RBI. Ambren Voitik continues his fantastic season with a 2-for-4 performance and a run scored. Not only does he impress from the plate, his fielding as a utility player improves day in and day out. Voitik was originally listed as a middle infield to begin the season. Bismarck’s Drew Beazley (ND, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K) had a great day on the mound for the Larks, holding Duluth to one hit through four innings of work.
The Huskies have two days off before traveling to La Crosse for two and then facing the red hot St. Cloud Rox for a home-and-home.
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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’ 27th 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.
