Back and forth contest ends with 8-5 Win for Duluth
Duluth, Minn — Tonight the Huskies took on the Stingers in their last game of the 2019 season. With the Eau Claire Express clinching the division and a playoff spot two nights ago with a win over Bismarck, Duluth’s hopes for a 2nd consecutive playoff berth was thwarted.
Last night the Huskies lost 9-1 after Chris Peres threw 6 innings for Willmar and allowed just one run on two hits over six innings. He managed to take a no-hitter into the 5th inning as well which was broken up by Nico Lima. Joel Cheatwood and Garrett Herring finished off the game allowing only two more hits to keep Duluth suppressed on the scoreboard.
Tonight Brock Mosier got his 2nd start of the season in the Huskies’ last game and went up against Luke DeGrammont, who had not faced Duluth yet this summer before tonight.
The first three innings passed with no runs scored and just two hits logged apiece. Mosier worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the 1st inning after walking the first two men and walking another and then had two stress-free innings after that.
But Max Guzman quickly broke the tie with a two-out solo shot in the top of the 4th to take a one-run lead. Guzman’s last home run came just four days ago against La Crosse while his blast today raised his season total to 6.
Willmar found their rhythm off of Mosier in their half of the 4th though as Brandon Bohning and James Gamble both hit back to back doubles and saw just two pitches. But Mosier made a nice double play to end the inning when he dove to tag out a bunting Ryan Johnson and then threw out Gamble who was trying to score on the play.
But the Stingers got to Mosier in the bottom of the 5th when Riley Johnson brought home Sam Baier with a sac fly into right field to grab a 2-1 Willmar lead. This led to Schuyler Hill relieving Mosier and getting the last out of the inning to keep the one-run deficit intact. The San Diego Christian product tossed 4.2 innings and gave up two runs on five hits, walked three, and struck out three in his last outing as a Husky.
A two-out rally in the top of the 6th, starting with a Max Guzman single, led to a two-run double from Matt Hogan to retake the lead at 3-2 and knock out DeGrammont. He finished with 5.2 innings and gave up three runs on six hits, and struck out four.
The Huskies extended their lead to 4-2 with an RBI single from Aaron Greenfield that scored Drew Downing. Downing led off the inning with a single of his own which represented his 1st multi-hit performance this season. Kyle Jacobsen then added on another run with a base hit that Greenfield came around on. Both Greenfield and Downing advanced into scoring position on wild pitches.
But the back and forth affair continued in the bottom of the 7th when Casey Dykstra and Brandon Bohning scored consecutive runs off of Schuyler Hill who had been rolling uninterrupted with four strikeouts through an inning and a third. The last two innings of the Huskies final game would be another thriller as the score sat at 5-4 Duluth.
Then the one-run lead quickly turned into an 8-4 lead thanks to an RBI single from Justin Moore which led to Matt Hogan scoring on a wild pitch. After two more wild pitches, Moore moved to 3rd and scored on Drew Downing’s groundout for the 4th run of the inning.
Owen Meaney came onto the mound for Schuyler Hill for the 8th and set down the side to retain the late lead in his last inning of the season with Willmar getting one more chance to come back and tie things up.
Duluth’s closer Jack Corbell took the mound one last time for the 9th to try and end the Huskies’ season with a win. He struck out Casey Dykstra to start the frame, but gave up a double to Brandon Bohning right after on a 2-1 count and allowed him to advance to 3rd on a passed ball.
After striking out James Gamble for the 2nd out, Brandon Boissiere hit a line drive over Noah Marcelo in left field for an RBI double to make it an 8-5 game. Then after issuing two walks to Sam Baier and Ryan Johnson, Corbell managed to strike out Daniel Walsh to end the game.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 26th anniversary 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, more than 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). 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.