Eau Claire, Wis. – August is the most important month of the Northwoods League season, and the Express are 1-0.
Northwoods League All-Star pitcher Walker Retz (St. Thomas) shined once again for Eau Claire and the lineup managed just enough offense to secure a 2-1 victory over Rochester to secure the series sweep.
Retz allowed a hit in each of the first two innings but worked around the traffic each time before posting three consecutive hitless frames from the third to the fifth. The first real trouble he ran into came in the sixth inning when the Honkers notched four hits to score a run, but the Tommie got a flyout to strand the bases loaded and limit the damage. A scoreless seventh inning capped off his outing, with a final line of seven innings pitched, seven hits, one run and two walks while striking out four.
While Retz went to work on the mound, the Eau Claire offense consistently tried to add onto an early lead. Cort MacDonald (Stanford) singled and advanced to third on an error by the Rochester centerfielder in the first inning, allowing him to dart him on a throw down to first after a dropped third strike. MacDonald recognized that there was nobody covering home and took off to put the Express ahead 1-0.
The Trains managed only one hit over the next three innings but finally broke through for another run in the fifth. Dante Vachini (Cal Poly) led off the inning with a hustle double to centerfield and moved to third on a balk quickly after. An RBI single from Gabe Richardson (Minnesota–Duluth) two batters later brought Vachini in and doubled Eau Claire’s lead.
Rochester scored its lone run in the fifth but could not manage much other offense throughout the night. Kale Hopke (Charleston Southern) pitched a clean eighth inning to set up Austin Steeves (Stanford) with another save opportunity. Steeves allowed two singles to start the ninth inning but rebounded quickly for three big outs to close out the win.
The victory was Eau Claire’s fourth in its last five games and moved it to 17-13 in the second half. The Express trail Duluth by 2.5 games in the division with a two-game set against the Huskies over the weekend. The first game of the home-and-home series will be at Carson Park Saturday evening at 6:35 p.m.
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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. Entering its’ 32nd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history 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, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 380 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 (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at watch.northwoodsleague.com), ESPN+, and the Northwoods League Network. Learn more and find complete streaming schedules at watchnwl.com. 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.
