Eau Claire, Wis. – An eighth-inning turn of events secured a 9-7 comeback victory for the Eau Claire Express against Waterloo Tuesday night.
Eau Claire Express Postgame Recap:
Taking an early lead of one within the first inning, after Anthony Martinez hit a single to center field to bring home Cade Palkowski. Despite an early 1-0 lead, the Bucks decided it was their turn to secure six unanswered runs throughout the second, third and sixth innings.
Going silent and seemingly tired, the Express remained in a 7-1 deficit until it was their turn to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Mikey Muniz hit a single to center field, bringing home Jake Busson and Philip Cheong, providing a spark to close their run deficit.
Sitting at 7-3, the Trains decided not to go down without a fight as in the bottom of the eighth inning and tallying up two outs, with runners on first and second base, Sawyer Stein hit a double to left field, bringing home Matthew Maulik and Martinez for a score of 7-5.
On a first baseman error, Stein made it home for a 7-6 score, before Jaxon Schumacher was up to bat. On the first pitch, Schumacher hit a home run to left field, bringing home himself and Muniz to take back the lead at 9-7.
Olivier Martel went to the mound for the Express in the ninth inning to close out the game with a center field putout for out number one, followed by two strikeouts to remain undefeated against the Waterloo Bucks and started strong in the second half of the season.
The Express will take on the Bucks once more in Carson Park at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.
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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.
