La Crosse, Wis. – La Crosse lost 7-5 to Mankato on a hot and humid Friday night at Copeland Park in front of 2,440 fans. The Loggers fall to 14-17 on the season with the first half of the season ending next week.
The MoonDogs jumped out to an early two run lead in the first inning on four singles, and extended their lead to 3-0 the following frame after collecting seven early hits off of La Crosse starter Ian Bedell (Missouri). The Loggers would storm back to take the lead 4-3 in the bottom half of the second as three consecutive RBI singles from Tim Lilly (Villanova), Jarron Silva (UCLA) and Braiden Ward (Washington) tied the game at 3-3 before a wild pitch scored Lilly from third to give the Loggers the lead.
Mankato would immediately tie the game in the following inning with a solo home run from CJ Huntley, and ultimately regain the lead with a run in the fourth. With the score 5-4 in the eighth, the MoonDogs added a pair of valuable insurance runs on an RBI single from Garrett Mitchell that resulted in two runs after a three-base error by the left fielder allowing Mitchell to circle the bases.
The four-run second inning is all the Loggers’ offense could manage until the eighth when Silva, Shane McGuire (San Diego), and Harrison Freed (Butler) reached before Mike Rothenberg (Duke) earned an RBI with a hit by pitch to bring home Silva. The Lumbermen would strand the tying run on base, however, and go quietly in the ninth to lose 7-5.
La Crosse (14-17) will open a home-away series with the Rochester Honkers (14-18) Saturday afternoon before traveling to Rochester on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 PM CT, with a special live performance from the Dueling Duo Pianos set to take place following the game.
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.
####
