The Great Plains East second-half division race tightens with the Loggers victory
Adam Cohen, cohena@allegheny.edu
Duluth, Minn. – After a six-game road stand, the Duluth Huskies were greeted into Wade Stadium by the red-hot La Crosse Loggers, who took game one of a two-game set by a score of 18-6. The Huskies allowed 18+ runs for the first time since their 20-1 loss against the Rochester Honkers on July 30, 2018.
Huskies’ starter Ben Gerl (0-2) continued to struggle at home as the Loggers picked up 7 runs in the first inning. Miraculously, only one earned run was charged to Gerl, who was forced to exit the ballgame after the first inning for the second time this season after surpassing the 35 pitches in the inning. As a whole, the Huskies tossed out 7 pitchers, who allowed 13 walks and four hit by pitches.
The offense held their own as they racked up at least six runs for the fifth consecutive night. The Huskies knocked starter Cole Colleran out of the game in the fifth by scoring three runs off him. Nick King (1-0) ended up earning the win in relief for the Loggers after throwing four innings of three-run ball with two of the runs being earned.
Since the Huskies and Express lost tonight, and the Loggers won, all three teams are now tied with a 24-35 record. If the Waterloo Bucks, who are 1.5 games ahead of the Huskies and 2.5 games over the Express, hold onto the division lead, the next team with the best overall record will make the playoffs.
In the second half, however, the Loggers improve to 10-13, while the Huskies fall to 12-13. The Huskies return to Wade Stadium at 6:35 tomorrow and look to win the season series against their division rivals.
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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.
