Eau Claire, Wis.— The Express moved into first place in the North Division with an emphatic win against the La Crosse Loggers, setting them up in a strong position to clinch an automatic playoff spot with a win tomorrow in La Crosse. Eau Claire scored a season high 16 runs in the game, proving they are a capable offensive power that will be hard to stop come the post season.
The Loggers got on the score board early, with a solo home run by Griffin Conine to open the scoring on the July 4th holiday. Conine blasted the longball down the first base line, hitting off of the roof of the Bud Balcony in right field. Cullen Large made it back-to-back home runs for La Crosse, hitting a solo shot of his own off the scoreboard in deep center field to give La Crosse a 2-0 lead early.
Eau Claire retaliated with a three-run inning in the bottom of the first. Ben Mezzenga drew a lead off walk, and scampered all the way to third on a wild pitch. Zach Ashford drew the second walk of the inning to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Daulton Varsho hit a ground ball up the middle, and scored Mezzenga when the Loggers second baseman could not field the ball cleanly. Rudy Rott tied the game on a one-run single into shallow left field, and Kyle Marinconz followed with an RBI single of his own to score Varsho to take a 3-2 lead.
Express starter Michael Gomez bounced back with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second to preserve the one run lead. Gomez struck out one batter and forced two groundouts in the hitless frame. Gomez would continue his hitless streak with another inning of shutout pitching in the third.
Varsho hit the third RBI single in the game for the Express in the bottom of the second against reliever Jack Ralston. Ralston took over on the mound for Jon Teaney, who threw 37 pitches in the first inning so was required by Northwoods Pitching Guidelines to come out of the game. Varsho’s hit scored Ashford, who reached on a double to shallow right field with two-outs.
The Loggers mounted a rally with two outs in the top of the fourth, scoring one run on one hit to cut the Express lead to just one run. Gomez walked Justin Wylie on four pitches and hit Kyle Plantier in the wrist to put to runners on base. Lorenzo Hampton Jr. ripped a single over the shortstop to drive Wylie in.
Eau Claire put two runners in scoring position for Varsho in the bottom of the fourth. Cody Bohanek was hit by a pitch to start the inning, stole a base, and advanced to third on an Ashford single. Ashford also stole second base, advancing to third on a wild pitch that scored Bohanek. Ralston issued a walk to Varsho, who made it three stolen bases in the inning as he swiped second base easily. Rott hit his third single of the game, driving in two-runs to give the Express a 7-3 lead after four innings.
Jake Sommers replaced Gomez on the mound in the fifth inning, retiring the Loggers hitters in order to maintain the four-run gap. Sommers struck out four straight batters through the seventh and eighth.
Eau Claire added a season-high eight runs of support in the bottom of the fifth inning, extending its lead to 15-3 just past the halfway point in the contest. Bohanek led off the inning with a double, and later scored on an Ashford RBI single, his third hit of the game. With two runners on base, Varsho blasted a bases clearing triple over the head of Hampton Jr. in center field, extending his career record in triples with his second three-bagger of the season. The Express loaded the bases with two straight walks, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Austin Guzzo allowed Varsho to cross the plate for the third time. McKenna scored on a balk by Ralston.
Ben Mezzenga stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded, after Mickey McDonald reached on an error and Bohanek was hit by his second pitch of the night. Mezzenga came through with another extra base hit for Eau Claire, hitting a three-run double against Hampton Jr. who took over on the mound for Ralston.
La Crosse pulled one run back in the seventh inning, narrowing a seemingly insurmountable lead to 11 runs. Kevin Collard hit a one-out single, and later scored on an RBI single from shortstop Mason McCoy, his 15th RBI of the season. The Loggers would add two more runs on a two-run single by Grant Fennell.
Eau Claire added a 16th run in the bottom of the 8th inning on a single by Ashford. Mezzenga scored on a fielding error by the La Crosse left fielder to retake a double-digit lead late in the game.
Brett Steinwagner and Dylan Smith combined to close out the victory, with two scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth. Sommers was awarded the win in the game, improving his overall record to 3-2 this summer.
Rott was named player of the game for his 3-4 performance, driving in three runs and scoring one run himself. Ashford was also dialed-in at the plate, finishing the game 4-5 with four runs scored and two RBI’s.
The Express will continue their series against the Loggers tomorrow night with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Austin Schulfer will start for the Express, hoping to continue his impressive season on the hill, where he is in the top-five in the league in ERA and strikeouts. With St. Cloud a half game behind in the standings, a victory against the Loggers would seal an automatic playoff bid.
Season tickets and single-game tickets are on sale now for Express home games. All tickets can be purchased by calling the Express office at 715-839-7788 or by stopping at the downtown office at 102 E. Grand Ave.
The Eau Claire Express are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). 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 and set the Express as your favorite team.
