{"id":22031,"date":"2026-06-08T22:17:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/?p=22031"},"modified":"2026-06-08T22:17:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:17:38","slug":"stingers-deliver-late-sting-hand-express-second-straight-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2026\/06\/08\/stingers-deliver-late-sting-hand-express-second-straight-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Stingers deliver late sting, hand Express second straight loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Willmar, Minn. <\/b>\u2013\u00a0 The Espress fell short after a late offensive surge by the Willmar Stingers, securing it’s second loss in a row with an 11-5 final on Monday night.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eau Claire Express Postgame Recap:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Traveling to Willmar, Minnesota, after a 7-2 loss to split the series against the Badlands Big Sticks, the Espress earned its second consecutive loss after an 11-5 loss to start its series against the Willmar Stingers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following a slow first inning for both teams, the Express secured the first runs of the night in the second inning from Howie Rickett crossing home plate after an Anthony Martinez RBI double to center field. Shortly after, Martinez ran home following Tommy Hanger\u2019s single to center field, bringing the Trains a lead of 2-0.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stingers responded with a run of their own in the second, alongside a run in the bottom of the third and fourth innings to bring the Stingers to a 3-2 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

That lead was quickly cut short as the Express doubled its score in the fifth inning, securing two additional earned runs as Hollon Brock hit a home run near left field to bring home Matthew Maulik and himself, taking the lead of 4-3.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a back-and-forth game, the Stingers pulled away to secure the win after an Express error, providing momentum for the Stingers to secure four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now in the zone, the Stingers secured four more runs in the eighth inning, with the help of a sacrifice fly by Enrico Veach, a wild pitch and a Merrick Rapoza double to left field, to bring their lead to 11-4.<\/span><\/p>\n

With one last shot at bat, Eau Claire was unable to make a comeback, only securing one more run by Martinez, marking its final score in game one of the series against the Willmar Stingers 11-5.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stingers finished the night with 12 hits and one error compared to Eau Claire\u2019s nine hits and two errors throughout the nine innings. The Express found bright spots from Brock, who concluded the game with one home run, two RBIs and led the team with five putouts from his spot at first base.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the mound, starting pitcher Luke Ryerse, followed by Jaden Kogutkiewicz and Tyler Bartley, secured 12 strikeouts altogether and two walks throughout the nine innings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eau Claire will face the Willmar Stingers one last time at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday to end its six-game away stretch and head back to Carson Park.<\/span><\/p>\n

##<\/span><\/p>\n

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 27<\/span><\/i>th<\/span><\/i> 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 <\/span><\/i>Northwoods League portal<\/span><\/i><\/a>. For more information, visit <\/span><\/i>www.eauclaireexpress.com<\/span><\/i><\/a> or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or Google Play and set the Booyah as your favorite team.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Willmar, Minn. \u2013\u00a0 The Espress fell short after a late offensive surge by the Willmar Stingers, securing it’s second loss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-league-news"],"yoast_head":"\nStingers deliver late sting, hand Express second straight loss - Eau Claire Express<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2026\/06\/08\/stingers-deliver-late-sting-hand-express-second-straight-loss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stingers deliver late sting, hand Express second straight loss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Willmar, Minn. \u2013\u00a0 The Espress fell short after a late offensive surge by the Willmar Stingers, securing it’s second loss [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2026\/06\/08\/stingers-deliver-late-sting-hand-express-second-straight-loss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eau Claire Express\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-09T03:17:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/Export064.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin-eau\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin-eau\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2026\/06\/08\/stingers-deliver-late-sting-hand-express-second-straight-loss\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2026\/06\/08\/stingers-deliver-late-sting-hand-express-second-straight-loss\/\",\"name\":\"Stingers deliver late sting, hand Express second straight loss - 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