St. Cloud, MN – St. Cloud is one win away from a 2021 Northwoods League Championship after a 6-3 win over Waterloo at the Rock Pile on Tuesday night.

The Rox will play for the Northwoods League title on Friday evening from Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud. Their opponent will be decided on Wednesday in the Great Lakes Championship between Madison and Traverse City.

Otto Kemp (Point Loma Nazarene) led the way offensively for the Rox with a home run and three RBI’s on the day. Kemp drove in the Rox first run of the day on a single down the left-field line and he stretched the lead back out to 6-3 in the seventh inning with his second postseason home run.

The two San Diego Toreros, Peter Abinanti and Caleb Ricketts, each got in on the action as well with RBI singles in the early innings. Ricketts’ base hit stretched out the lead to four runs for the Rox, the largest of the day.

Noah Myhre (Minot State) got the start on the mound and went five solid innings. Myhre gave up just one run and struck out six, including striking out the side to leave the bases loaded in the second inning.

Out of the bullpen, Max Rippl (Kent State) escaped a jam in the seventh inning after the game tightened up with a Waterloo home run. Then, he got the Rox into the ninth inning with a scoreless eighth.

In the ninth, Connor Barison (Washington State) finished off the game with three outs for his eighth save of the summer. Barison walked just one batter and retired the side to get the Rox to the championship game.

For a full box score from Tuesday’s game, click here.

The Rox will find out their opponent on Wednesday night as Traverse City hosts Madison in the Great Lakes Championship game. The winner will travel to St. Cloud for the Northwoods League Championship on Friday night, with first pitch from Joe Faber Field scheduled for 7:05 pm.

The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27^th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rox as your favorite team.