La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers lost to the Bismarck Larks by a score of 8-4 on a hot and humid Father’s Day at the Lumberyard in front of 2,248 fans celebrating their holiday at the ballpark. The Lumbermen came out swinging early, scoring three runs in the first four innings, but the bats would go quiet the remainder of the game resulting in a series split with the third place Larks.
Shane McGuire (San Diego) scored on a wild pitch in the second inning after a double to left to give the Loggers an early 1-0 lead. New Duke University arrivals Mike Rothenberg and Steve Mann each drove in a run the following two innings as Rothenberg scored Brandon Raquet (William & Mary) on a sacrifice fly in the third, before Mann led off the fourth with a towering solo home run to left in his second at-bat as a Logger. La Crosse was led offensively by McGuire who went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, one RBI and one run scored. Donta Williams (Arizona) also added a 2-for-4 performance on the night.
Loggers’ starting pitcher Quentin Miller (Butler) was terrific in his first start of the summer, shutting out the Larks through 5.0 innings while surrendering just three hits and striking out four. Miller left with a 3-0 lead after five complete innings, but the Larks would erupt for five runs on four hits off of Loggers’ reliever Eric Mock (Penn State) highlighted by a three-run home run from Matthew Warkentin, his second big fly in as many days.
Colton Larkins (Oral Roberts) and Brian Schrimmer (Bradley) were outstanding in relief once again, combining for 2.1 shutout innings and striking out three to hold the deficit to two runs. The Loggers would give up three unearned runs in the top of the ninth, however, on three costly errors that extended Bismarck’s lead to 8-3. A short rally in the bottom half would come up short, as the Loggers fell to a 10-9 record on the season.
The Loggers have an off day tomorrow before traveling to Duluth for a quick two game road trip, returning to Copeland Park on Thursday evening against the St. Cloud Rox for Guaranteed Win Night presented by Moxies!
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.
####