KENOSHA, WI- The Loggers fall in the 9th to the division-leading Kenosha Kingfish 4-3 in their last matchup of the season. Here is how to the game prevailed.
After a scoreless first inning, Kenosha struck first in the 2nd inning. After two quick outs, Jason Scholl (Eastern Illinois) singled followed a four pitch walk. Brody Westmoreland (San Diego State) singled to bring in Scholl to give Kenosha the early 1-0 lead.
The Kingfish added two more two-out runs in the fourth. A walk by Alex Borglin (Central Michigan) got the runner on base. A balk by Logger starter, Nolan Gromacki (Missouri), moved him to second. Brody Westmoreland reached on an error by third baseman Ronnie Gideon (Texas A&M) to allowed the run to score. The next batter, Grayson Byrd (LSU) doubled in Brody to extend the Kingfish lead to three.
The Logger bats got going in the 5th inning with Ronnie Gideon singling with one out. Chris Baker (Washington) singled to move Gideon to third. Ryan Kirby (San Diego) grounded out but it was enough to score a run to make the Kenosha lead 3-1.
Jordan Zimmerman (Michigan State) kept the comeback train going in the 6th with a leadoff walk. A balk by Kenosha starter, P.J. Schuster (SIUE), moved Zimmerman to second. Brock Lundquist (Long Beach State) grounded out but tallied his 22nd RBI on the season to bring Zimmerman to the plate. Alex Merritt singled to keep the inning going and he came into score on a two-out single by Ronnie Gideon. Keith Skinner (North Florida) was thrown out at the plate to end the inning, but La Crosse did enough to tie the game up with three and a half to go.
Both starters last six innings. Nolan Gromacki only gave up one earned run and struck out two Kingfish batters. Michael Echavia came in relief in the 7th.
Echavia pitched scoreless 7th and 8th innings, but ran into trouble in the 9th. The Loggers went three and out in the top half and the Kingfish put their first two batters on off of Echavia on a walk and a single. Jordan Pearce (Nevada) came in to stop the Kingfish threat. He intentionally walked Nick Sergakis (Ohio State), who won the game for Kenosha with a walkoff hit in the previous game. Eric Filia (UCLA) was struck by a 1-1 pitch from Pearce to bring in the winning run for the Kingfish. The second straight one-run loss for the Loggers brings them to a 2-4 second half record and a 21-19 overall record. The Loggers and Kingfish split the season at four a piece.
La Crosse heads back home to face the last place Kalamazoo Growlers. Make the trip to the Lumberyard and wear blue to “Strike Out Colon Cancer” presented by Gunderson Health Systems. Game time is at 7:05 or catch the game on the Logger Radio Network at 6:30.