BOX SCORE – Rochester 1, Huskies 4

Behind fantastic pitching performances from three players, the Duluth Huskies hushed the Rochester Honkers and clinched a playoff spot with a win, 4-3, at Wade Stadium Friday night. 

The Huskies (20-14, 37-31) got only four hits but took advantage of mistakes by the Honkers (17-16, 29-40) to get all the offense they would need. The win, combined with a loss by the Eau Claire Express to the Madison Mallards, pushed the Huskies to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. 

The bottom of the first was a prime example of the Huskies taking advantage of opportunities gifted to them by Rochester. Two walks to Cardell Thibodeaux and Joshua Duarte led off the inning, then a wild pitch moved them both up 90 feet. Charlie Sutherland and Ethan Cole both put the ball in play on the ground to score them both and the Huskies, despite not getting a single hit, were on top, 2-0. 

In the third, they made it 3-0. Cal Elvis started the inning with a walk, stole second then scored on a double from Thibodeuax that Reiss Calvin misjudged in left. They added another in the fourth when Joe Vos started the frame with a ground rule double, and one batter later, Tyler Palmer polished off a fantastic at-bat with an RBI single up the middle. 

On the mound, options were limited with many guys either by rule unavailable or guys that pitched on Thursday. However, Rowen Barnes, tasked with starting the game for the Huskies, gave Duluth four really good innings. He surrendered a run in the fourth, and it could have been more if not for a baserunning gaffe by Reiss Calvin, but finagled his way out of danger allowing just the one. It was part of a theme for the Huskies as they stranded nine Honkers on base. Through four innings, the score was 4-1. 

And that’s how it remained the rest of the game. Matthew Foley gave the Huskies four outs out of the pen. Then, Isaac Rohde, despite throwing 42 pitches the day prior, threw 45 more today to get the Huskies to the finish line. The biggest threat was the eighth when the Honkers got a couple of early baserunners. But Rohde sat down Andrew Cain and Petey Craska on strikes to end the threat. 

After a 1-2-3 ninth, the Huskies celebrated the berth, and the season, with a postgame fireworks show. The season will continue past Saturday night. 

Up Next 

The Huskies wrap up the regular season on Saturday night with a tuneup game before the playoffs start Sunday. The Honkers and Huskies battle one more time with the Huskies going for the season series victory. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm.