La Crosse, Wisc.- The La Crosse Loggers earn their first win of the season in a wild ball game that featured four home runs and a 7.2 inning relief appearance.
Kevin Flemer (California) made the start for Loggers for the home opener. Flemer pitched with the Loggers last season, and was fourth in the Northwoods League with a 2.37 ERA in 57 innings.
His home opener start, did not go well though. Two walks and a single in the first three at-bats of the game loaded the bases with no outs. He hit the next batter on the first pitch, and was taken out of the game two pitches later with an arm injury. Zach Kesterson (Duke) took his place and cleaned up the inning as best as he could, leaving the inning with a 3-0 deficit.
Both Kesterson and Andrew Burnick (Pennsylvania) for St. Cloud head each other’s offense quiet until the 4th. David Jacob (Quincy) and Luis Trevino (Navarro) sparked the Logger offense with back-to-back solo home runs.
Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle (Davenport) continued the pace with a one-out solo home run in the 5th inning. That took Burnick out of the game. Two batters later, Kevin Collard (San Diego) introduced the new the pitcher to the game with a solo home run for himself, giving La Crosse a 4-3 lead in the 5th.
The four home run mark tied the 3rd most home runs by a Logger team in a single game.
Zach Kesterson continued his long relief outing and it was a beauty. He lasted 7.2 innings, all scoreless, and surrendered only two hits. He struck out seven Rox batters on the night.
Chris Boettcher (Illinois Central) secured the Loggers’ first win of the season with a 1.1 inning save.
The win puts the Loggers at 1-2 for the young season. St. Cloud is still searching for their first win of the season. The Lumbermen go for the series sweep tomorrow at Copeland Park at 7:05 PM, gates open a 6. If you can’t make the game, listen to the game on the Loggers Radio Network on Eagle 102.7 or on the La Crosse Loggers Radio app.
