LA CROSSE, Wis. — With the bases loaded and one out, Cody Jefferis beat out a throw to home plate in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the La Crosse Loggers a come-from-behind 6-5 victory in front of 2,727 fans on Saturday night at Copeland Park.
After surrendering a run in the top of the second inning, the Loggers (37-34, 20-15) answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Trey Harris (Arkansas) doubled and came around to score on a sac fly by Cole Elvis (California), and then a two-out double by Jefferis (San Diego) gave La Crosse an early 3-1 lead.
Bismarck (31-40, 11-24) scored in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to reclaim a 5-3 lead, but only managed five hits on the day against the pitching quartet of Lalo Porras (Lewis Clark State), Jack Filby (UCLA), Matt Richey (Bradley) and Jared Freilich (Penn State).
Ryan Holgate (Arizona) drove in Jefferis in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut into the Larks’ lead, and back-to-back doubles by Matt Stinebiser (Duke) and Elvis tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth. Freilich set down the Bismarck lineup in order in the top of the ninth, to set the table for the walk-off victory in the ninth.
Jefferis singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Kyson Donahue (Arizona), and quickly advanced to third on a passed ball. After intentional walks were issued to Holgate and JT Schwartz (UCLA), Harris hit a ground ball to third base, and Jefferis slid under the tag for the final run. Jefferis finished 4-for-5 to raise his average to .310, while Stinebiser collected three hits to improve his batting average to .297.
The Loggers will wrap up the 2019 season with a 5:05 pm first pitch today against Bismarck.
