June 2009
Berge’s Perfect Night Leads Lunkers
T.J. Berge (Northern Colorado) had a phenomenal night, leading the Brainerd offense by reaching base five times, and going 4-for-4 with a double, three singles, and an RBI. The Lunkers defeated the Thunder Bay Border Cats 6-3.
Baumann’s Homer Downs Loggers
Nate Baumann made the most out of his only hit of the game with the game winning home run in the 9th inning to help the Eau Claire Express defeat the La Crosse Loggers. Baumann (Augustana) came up for the Express with two outs in the top of the 9th and took Craig Crumbley deep for a three run homer to take the lead from La Crosse. Baumann scored three runs on the night and drove in three, accounting for five of Eau Claire's 7 runs.
Roundy Leads Honkers Double-Header Sweep
Rance Roundy (UNLV) helped the Rochester Honkers sweep a double-header from the Alexandria Beetles by going a combined 3-5 with 3 walks, a home run, 4 runs scored and 3 RBI's.
O’Grady Ignites Lunkers
Dennis O'Grady, a two-way player from Duke, went 2-5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI's for the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers. The Lunkers defeated the St. Cloud River Bats 6-5 in Brainerd. O'Grady smoked a 2-run home run over the left field wall in the first inning to give the Lunkers an early lead. He led off the fifth and seventh innings with a walk and a single and eventually came around to score both times.
Murrill Keeps MoonDogs In First Place
Chris Murrill (Nicholls St.), who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 35th round earlier in the day, showed he was worthy of the pick, going 2-5 with a home run and two RBI to complement his walk-off single in the ninth. The MoonDog win kept them in sole possession of first place, a game ahead of Rochester in the standings.
Auten and Honkers Light Up Border Cats
Chris Auten (New Mexico St.) slugged two doubles and finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored for the Rochester Honkers in their 11-0 victory over the Thunder Bay Border Cats.
Cappetta Impressive In Double Header
Pete Cappetta (Illinois) went a combined 4-7 with a walk, four runs scored and five RBI's in Duluth's double header split with Eau Claire. He doubled and stole a base in the night cap, driving in four runs to lead the Huskies to a 10-5 victory. Cappetta is now hitting .340 on the year.
Big Debut For Kvasnicka
For the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers the addition of Michael Kvasnicka (Minnesota) proved vital in their 6-2 win Monday night in Alexandria. Kvasnicka, making his season debut, went 3-4 at the plate with two singles, a double, a walk and scored a run to pace the Lunkers.
O’Neil’s 10th Inning Homer Gives Beetles Win
In the top of the 10th inning the Alexandria Beetles got their lead-off hitter on base but a fake bunt-swing resulted in a line drive double play. The inning looked bleak until Mike O'Neill (USC) stepped to the plate, drilling a pitch over the right-center field wall to put the Beetles up 3-2. They would hang on in the bottom half for the victory. O'Neill finished 2-5 on the night. It was the 3rd home run and 9th RBI of the season for the 5'9" Beetles lead-off hitter.
Burns Sparks Huskies
Andy Burns (Kentucky) propelled the Duluth Huskies over the Thunder Bay Border Cats Saturday night, 3-2. Burns stroked a lead-off double in the top of the ninth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Huskies the win. Burns hit a sacrifice fly of his own to score a run and finished 2-4 with the run scored and RBI.
McClain Muscles Mallards to Victory
Adam McClain (Memphis) had a couple big at-bats late in the game Friday that ended when he muscled a grand slam over the left field wall at the Duck Pond. Rochester's Rance Roundy (UNLV) also had a night that is very worthy of mention.
Riggins Continues to Rake
Harold Riggins (NC State) becomes the first two-time Northwoods League Player of the Night of the season after putting together another big game at the Duck Pond.