La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers could only manage three hits in Sunday night’s 3-0 loss to the Willmar Stingers in front of 2,536 fans at Copeland Park and Event Center.
Strong performances from both teams’ starting pitchers turned Sunday night into a pitchers’ duel as both clubs combined for 10 total hits in the contest. The game was scoreless before Willmar’s Calvin Estrada hit a solo home run over the left field wall in the top of the fourth inning off of Loggers’ starter Lalo Porras (Lewis-Clark) to make the score 1-0. The Lumbermen had an opportunity to answer in the bottom half, but stranded the bases loaded after a big strikeout by Willmar starting pitcher Braden Smith, one of his nine punch outs on the night. The lefthander tossed 5.2 innings of three hit ball while working around four walks allowed.
The Stingers would manufacture a run in the top of the fifth inning as a leadoff walk, base hit, and sacrifice bunt moved runners into scoring position with one out leading to an RBI single to left by Richie Garcia. A leadoff hit by pitch would also come around to score in the Stingers’ half of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by John Trousdale off of Loggers’ reliever Ian Bedell (Missouri). The Lumbermen would go quietly in the final three innings despite quality work from the bullpen by Stephen Knapp (Bellevue) and Colton Larkins (Oral Roberts) in their first appearances of the summer. Korey Lee (Cal) stayed hot for La Crosse, reaching base three times and collecting three stolen bases. Ramon Padilla (Illinois Central) and Brandon Raquet (William & Mary) each added a hit in the loss.
The Loggers will look to even the season series in a rematch tomorrow night at Copeland Park as the clubs battle for position in the North Division standings. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM CT, with gates opening at 6:00 on BOGO Bike to the Ballpark Night presented by the Wisconsin Dot. The Loggers offer buy one, get one free tickets for anyone biking to the ballpark! Arrive to the Lumberyard early for a live pre-game performance by the Division BMX Team.
The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lacrosseloggers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Loggers as your favorite team.
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