DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth Huskies (25-34, 9-15) knocked off the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (18-41, 8-17) in hard fought fashion, earning a 6-5 win to clinch a winning home stand. The game featured nine pitchers, three ties and two lead changes, but excellent bullpen work from Duluth was enough to push it across the finish line.
Both starters were limited to one inning of work. Dax Hardcastle went for Duluth, and his one inning was by design. Hardcastle played both sides of the ball, starting at DH for five innings before giving way to Chance Sobbry. On the mound, Hardcastle walked the first two he faced but Isaiah Ibarra cut down a runner stealing and Hardcastle picked up a strikeout to keep the Rafters off the board in the first.
Wisconsin Rapids starter Kaden Felan threw one inning for an entirely different reason than a scheduled short outing – ineffectiveness. Felan tossed over 35 pitches in the inning, mandating an end to his day way earlier than expected. Felan allowed the first three hitters in the Duluth lineup — Wyatt Pennington, Kayden Campbell and Anthony Cepeda — to pick up hits, with Cepeda’s knock driving in the former two. Felan faced eight in the inning in total, allowing Cepeda to score on a double steal and permitting three runs in total.
Duluth handed all three runs back in the second, turning to Kai Valleroy. Valleroy threw 11 consecutive balls to begin his outing, walking the first three hitters with another caught stealing mixed in. After a strikeout and a walk with a wild pitch, it seemed for a moment like Valleroy would escape his jam with just one run conceded. Instead, leadoff hitter Quinn Falish smoked a two-run double into right center, knotting the game up at three. While Valleroy got Danny Gavin to pop out, he hit his 35 pitch limit as well.
Both teams scored in the next few innings, with Duluth plating a run in the third off Hezekiah Scott courtesy of George McIntyre being hit by a pitch and stealing all three bases, nabbing home with another designed double steal with runners on the corners. Wisconsin Rapids immediately responded, scoring a run on a Brent Godina balk after back-to-back two-out hits. Both pitchers would allow another run in the fifth, keeping the game tied.
In the sixth, Duluth scored the game’s winning run on reliever Casey Wambach, who hit Campbell with a pitch. The speedy second baseman stole both second and third base, eventually scoring on a passed ball to give Wambach the loss despite his only run allowed being unearned. Carter Boos got the final out of the fifth and worked scoreless through the sixth and seventh, sending the game to the eighth with Duluth clinging to a one-run lead.
Boos had his season-high in innings pitched entering the eighth, but field manager Marcus Pointer trusted his second-year Husky with the ball. Boos got two outs in the eighth, but allowed a single and a walk to put runners at first and second with two outs. Needing nothing more to cross the plate, the Huskies turned to fireman Devin Costa to end the frame. Costa allowed the bases to be loaded on a Campbell error, but struck out Ereck Soto to strand the bags full and hold the lead. Duluth went quietly in the bottom half, but Pierce Anderson shut down the Rafters in the ninth, earning the save with a 1-2-3 inning.
Boos earned his first win of the season, while Wambach took his second loss and Anderson notched his sixth save, fourth in the Northwoods League. Campbell reached four times to lead all Huskies hitters, getting hit by three pitches in addition to his first inning single. Anthony Cepeda extended his hit streak to nine games, the best by a Duluth player this season. Seven different Huskies tallied one hit each but none had multiple, and Pennington’s double to lead off the game was the only extra-base hit of the contest for Duluth.
On Deck
The two teams wrap up the series and Duluth’s home stand on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. CT. Duluth then hits the road to Thunder Bay with a chance to clinch the Superior Cup, before continuing on to Waterloo and Eau Claire. Tickets for all Duluth home games can be found online on the team website. All Huskies baseball action can be streamed on FloSports.