Eau Claire, Wis. – The Eau Claire Express secures the title of Great Plains East Champions, following a dominant 3-1 victory over the La Crosse Loggers, Tuesday night.

The Trains rolled into Carson Park, holding a 1-1 tie against the Loggers in the first round of the playoffs, meaning this was a winner-take-all game, in which the Trains secured a 3-1 victory to hold the title of Great Plains East Champs.

The Loggers cemented their first run of the game in the top of the second, with Nicholas Mazzotta crossing home on a sacrifice fly hit by Logan De Groot.

Eau Claire responded immediately, in the bottom of the second, with a home run to left field hit by Jake Busson. Marking his 20th home run in an Express jersey, setting a new franchise record, after surpassing Daulton Varsho, who held the record at 19 home runs.

The two teams from opposite sides of the diamonds kept it at a 1-1 tie for three innings, until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Express took over offensively.

Staying with a single run earned was strongly attributed to the Express’s strong defense, dominantly led by the pitching staff. Starting for the Express from the mound was Quinten Marsh from Stanford University, who pitched for a full seven innings, dishing out the only strikeouts of the game at five, allowing four hits and two walks.

Supporting the Trains’ pitching were the Express fielders, who combined for a total of 27 putouts, eight assists and 36 total catches.

The Trains rallied for another earned run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Hollon Brock ran home on a sacrifice fly hit by Busson, to break the tie, taking the lead at 2-1. The one-run lead was quickly complemented by Sawyer Stein crossing home on a sacrifice fly hit by Adam Salazar in the bottom of the seventh, for a finalized 3-1 victory.

Eau Claire ended the night with three runs on five hits and one error, compared to La Crosse’s one run on four hits. Leading the Trains offensively was Stein, who went 4-for-2, hitting one triple, complemented by Bussons’s skill, who ended the night 3-for-1, one home run and two RBIs.

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The Eau Claire Express is 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.eauclaireexpress.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or Google Play and set the Booyah as your favorite team.