WATERLOO, Iowa – The Bucks knew they had an opportunity to play spoiler on the Huskies’ playoff chances, and boy did they deliver.

The Duluth Huskies (18-14) came into Sunday’s game at Riverfront Stadium needing either a win or an Eau Claire Express loss to clinch the first-half title in the Great Plains East. However, the Waterloo Bucks (9-24) would immediately put up four runs in the first.

Kyle Huckstorf scored on a wild pitch before Ryan Guardino hit an RBI single that allowed Tai Walton to come in to score. Later in the inning, Jalen Martinez hit a 2 RBI single that pushed the Bucks’ lead to 4-0.

However, two innings later in the third, the Huskies would strike back scoring four runs of their own to tie the game.

Waterloo didn’t take too kindly to that as in the fifth, Guardino would launch his seventh home run of the season bringing in Walton. The Huskies weren’t given much time to react as the very next batter, Liam Critchett launched a shot to right for back-to-back home runs for the Bucks.

The scoring didn’t stop there as in the seventh the Bucks scored six more runs on just two base hits, taking advantage of Huskies pitchers not being able to find the strike zone to take a 15-4 lead.

One more run would be tacked on in the eighth for Waterloo when Cameron Cromer laced an RBI single into center scoring Martinez. That brought the score to the eventual final score of 16-4 in favor of the Waterloo Bucks.

However, despite the 16 runs scored for Waterloo, it was the pitching that shined through. Frankie Cresta came out of the bullpen for Waterloo and pitched five shutout innings from the fourth through the eighth. It was five no-hit innings at that for the Tennessee Tech junior, but as he returned for his sixth inning of work in the ninth the Huskies finally collected a base hit where he was then pulled for Dylan Warda who slammed the door.

It was a stellar day for the Bucks out of Tennessee Tech as Ryan Guardino earned Northwoods League Player of the Night honors going 4-5 with 5 RBI including the home run, which now ranks Guardino tied for second in the NWL.

Additionally, with the Huskies’ loss, and an Express win the Huskies now lead the Great Plains East by just half a game heading into the final game of the first half. On Monday, either a Huskies win OR an Express loss will clinch the playoff berth for Duluth. The Bucks will yet again look to play spoiler to their visitors from Duluth.

Monday’s game is the Fourth of July, the Waterloo Bucks will be wearing specialty Independence Day themed jerseys which will be auctioned off during the game. You can currently bid on the Live Source App. All jerseys will be washed and signed following the game.

The Independence Day game against the Huskies is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. You can still purchase tickets at waterloobucks.com or by calling the Bucks ticket line. If you can’t make it out to the ballpark, you can stream the game for free at Watch NWL.