BOX SCORE – Loggers 8, Huskies 6

The Duluth Huskies struggled to keep runs off the board in the early innings yet again in a season-ending, 8-6, defeat against the La Crosse Loggers Monday night at Wade Stadium.

The Huskies (0-2) season comes to a disappointing end after they very nearly came all the way back. Unfortunately, the rally came up just short and it was the Loggers (2-0) who advanced in the Northwoods League Playoffs. 

In yesterday’s contest, the Huskies did not post a zero until the sixth inning. Tonight, they had similar issues. Even Duluth’s All-Star starter Isaac Rohde could not contain the Loggers offense early. La Crosse scored six times overall in the first three innings. It would not be until the fourth inning that the Huskies shut them down. 

Give the Loggers credit though – they smacked the ball all over the ballpark. For the contest, La Crosse posted 16 hits with all of them coming in the first seven innings. 

Tonight, the Huskies offense responded to the early barrage with a few runs of their own in the early going. The Huskies took advantage of the speed of Tyler Palmer, who stole two bases in the bottom of the second, to score him. In the third, an RBI single by Cardell Thibodeaux and a sacrifice fly by Ethan Cole trimmed the deficit further. However, the Huskies still trailed, 6-3, through three. 

To make matters worse, the Loggers struck twice more in the fifth. The first came on a home run by Ryan Kucherak that knocked Rohde out of the game. The final line for Rohde was ugly: 4.0 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 0 BB, 3 K. The good news for Duluth? La Crosse didn’t score again. After the fifth inning, Zach Kuseske and Matthew Bergan didn’t surrender another run. 

The onus was then on the Huskies’ offense to try to mount a rally. It sure wasn’t going to happen against Loggers starter Tyler Albanese, who settled in incredibly well after a turbulent second and third. Following that, he took eight Huskies by way of the strikeout and finished off a fantastic outing. It didn’t happen against Micah Worley in his 1.1 innings either. However, the Huskies found some luck against Bobby McDonough in the ninth, down to their last three outs. 

First, Tyler Palmer reached on a dropped third strike and Elijah Fairchild walked. After Jake Downing moved both over, Cal Elvis ripped a two-RBI single to right and advanced to third in the ensuing chaos. After Thibodeaux bounced out and brought Elvis home, the lead was down to just two. However, there were two outs and the bases were empty. They wouldn’t be for long. 

Joshua Duarte and Charlie Sutherland both drew walks to put the tying run on. They later advanced on a wild pitch to bring the tying run into scoring position. Unfortunately for the Huskies, Ethan Cole flew out to end the game, stranding the tying run and ending the Huskies season.

Up Next 

Unfortunately, there will be no game tomorrow and the Huskies 2024 season has come to an end. Thank you for tuning in to our broadcasts, reading our coverage, attending Wade Stadium for games and for you support of the team all summer long. We hope to see you again next summer!