La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers (10-8) took game one of the series against the Bismarck Larks (11-8) in front of 2,175 fans at Copeland Park.
The Larks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning as a result of back-to-back home runs from Kyle Stevens and Chase Coker off of Loggers’ starting pitcher Lalo Porras (Lewis-Clark State). The Loggers would get one run back in the bottom half of the inning as Jordan Holladay (South Carolina) beat out a fielder’s choice to score Donta Williams (Arizona) after the centerfielder doubled to the left-center wall.
The Lumbermen broke out for five runs in the third inning off of Larks’ starter Carlos Lopez, who came into the night tied for the Northwoods League lead in victories. Bryce Blaum (Texas A&M) led off the inning with a base hit and would come around to score on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to one run. Korey Lee (Cal) tied the game with an RBI single to right field scoring Brandon Raquet (William & Mary), and Jordan Holladay would reach on a hit by pitch to bring Shane McGuire to plate with two outs in the inning. The lefthander followed with a towering 3-run home run to right field to give the Loggers a 6-3 lead, and they would never look back.
Porras settled in nicely after a rough .first inning, earning his first victory of the season after going 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out five. The La Crosse offense would add two more runs in the fifth inning, as Kody Gardner (Sac City) doubled to the left-center gap putting two runners into scoring position for Zion Pettigrew (Iowa). Pettigrew would stay hot with a two RBI single up the middle scoring Gardner and Ramon Padilla (Illinois Central) to extend the lead to 8-3.
Jon Meyerring (Miami OH) entered the game in the seventh for the Loggers, conserving the big lead despite giving up two unearned runs in the seventh inning. Cam Pferrer (Missouri) picked up his second save of the season in the victory, lowering his season ERA to 2.45.
La Crosse and Bismarck will be back in action again tomorrow night on a very special Father’s Day presented by Dean’s Satellite and Security, with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 PM CT.
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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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