Eau Claire, WI – The Express were back in town Tuesday night, and fed off the electricity from the Carson Park faithful, beating the Rochester Honkers 5-2.
Cory Ronan (Hawaii) got the start for the Trains tonight and looked sharp, going for 5.0 innings pitched, only giving up 1 earned run on 2 hits, and fanning 6 Honkers. This solid performance earned him Player of the Game, as he set the tone for the team early on.
This momentum was palpable as Eau Claire added one run apiece in the 2nd, and 5th innings. The scoring first came on a DJ Massey (Central Arizona) RBI groundout, and later on a Rayth Petersen (UIC) RBI double off the leftfield wall.
The big inning for Eau Claire though came in the bottom of the 7th. The two teams were all knotted up at 2 runs each when Reed Latimer (Montevallo) came to the plate. With runners on the corners, and 2 outs, Latimer cracked a no-doubter home run over the left field wall, and onto the nearby Carson Park football field. His 2nd home run of the season left in a hurry, with an exit velocity of 104 mph, coming off his wood bat.
Now up 5-2, the top of the 9th saw closer Matt Helwig (Lewis) come in and record his 3rd save of the season. Runners got on base, but in true Helwig fashion, he was unphased, recording all three outs of the inning, and closing the door on a potential late-game comeback.
The Express are back at home tomorrow for a doubleheader at Carson Park. The first game starts at 11:05 am CT, and the theme is Kid’s Day! In the evening game, which starts at 7:05 pm CT, we will honor all Teachers with “Teacher Appreciation Day.” Teachers will get in free with a current Teacher ID. We hope to see you at the ballpark!
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The Eau Claire Express 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. Now in its’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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 325 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 (NYM), 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 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.eauclaireexpress.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Express as your favorite team.