DULUTH, MN- The Waterloo Bucks (18-7) used timely hitting and pitching to defeat the Duluth Huskies (13-12) 6-0 on Saturday, June 24.

It was a pitching showdown between Ryan Garcia (1-0) in his Bucks debut and Gaylon Viney (1-2) for the first three innings. Waterloo pushed across the first run of the game without even recording a hit thanks to a wild pitch in the top of the fourth plating Ian Nelson. Same situation after Tyler Stover led off the top of the fifth with a double he brought around on another wild pitch from Viney.

Garcia tossed five scoreless innings and struck out five batters in his debut and the Bucks widened the 2-0 advantage on an RBI single by Ian Nelson. Still in the top of the sixth inning, Zach Malis laced an RBI ground rule double down the first base line while Stover added an RBI sacrifice fly to center field. After six innings, the Bucks were in control 5-0.

The bullpen kept the shutout intact as Dalton Hurd drove in a run on a sac-fly to center field for an extra insurance run.

With the shutout victory and a St. Cloud loss, the Bucks are back in first place in the Northwoods League North Division.

The Bucks travel north to Canada tomorrow, June 25 for a 1:35 p.m. first pitch at Port Arthur Stadium against the Thunder Bay Border Cats.

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The Waterloo Bucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.waterloobucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Bucks as your favorite team.