Four run ninth inning destroys Husky chances
Matthew Hargrove, matthewhargrove0834@gmail.com
Duluth, Minnesota – The Bucks rose from the dead in the last two innings of Friday night’s event, sweeping the Duluth Huskies for the first time this season with a final score of 11-5. Waterloo’s 1st Baseman Garrett McGowan was an absolute monster, going three-for-three with two walks and an RBI. Righty Curren Larsen picked up the victory for the Bucks, with Michael Sarhatt taking the loss for the Huskies. Lefty Brycen Mautz came into the eight inning to get his second save on back-to-back nights.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Duluth got the bats going with two runs in both the fifth and the sixth inning. The runs in the fifth came from a two RBI single from 3rd baseman Mike Boeve, and RBI doubles from 2nd baseman Beau Wimpee and Michael Brooks. Ronnie Voacolo put together another masterful performance in his first appearance at Wade Stadium. The righty from Southeastern University allowed one run and collected three strikeouts over five innings, lowering his ERA to 2.45.
Moving ahead to the eighth inning, Sarhatt began the bottom half walking in a run that forced Head Coach Marcus Pointer to go to Zach Statzer. Statzer though couldn’t get into a groove, giving up four more runs and the lead heading into the ninth. Michael Altman toed the rubber in the ninth inning to try and keep the Huskies in the ballgame, but just like his predecessors, Altman struggled. The righty gave up four ninth inning runs before getting pulled with just one out. The Huskies offense didn’t score in the bottom half, giving the Bucks their 18th win of the season.
Tonight’s loss to Waterloo officially puts Duluth out of the running for the first half 1st place finish in the Great Plains East Division. The Huskies record moves to 8-18, with the final series of the Huskies four game home stand starting tomorrow night. Duluth will take on the Bismarck Larks, who are 16-10 and 2-0 against the Huskies this season.
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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.