Waterloo, IA – The Waterloo Bucks defeated the Thunder Bay Border Cats 7-5 at Riverfront Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 2, as Marcus Heusohn became the team’s all-time leader in games played.
Appearing in his 186th career Northwoods League contest, Heusohn has now played in more games than any player in franchise history. He and his teammates — young and old — made game 186 a memorable one.
Playing in his sixth career NWL game, Mitchell Iliff lifted a ball over the center field wall for a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth that tied the contest at five. An inning later, second-year Waterloo Buck Larry Edwards smoked a double down the left field line to plate Owen Ross for his second RBI of the day, putting the team in front for good.
For the second day in a row, the bullpen did not allow a single run. In his eighth NWL appearance, Vincent Cicolello earned his first career victory, getting a strikeout while retiring all six batters he faced. Sam Hanson had 2.1 IP of scoreless work, and Brandon Rice shut the door in the ninth by outlasting all three of his batters for his third save of the year.
Rice still leads the team with 23 pitching appearances, and he has now hurled ten and two-thirds straight innings without surrendering an earned run. Collectively, Waterloo’s bullpen has now gone 14 straight innings without allowing a run.
Cole Smith knocked in Edwards on a single in the seventh to close the scoring for the evening. Edwards finished the contest with four stolen bases and is now just six away from tying Joey Bonadonna for the most NWL steals of all-time at 90.
With his performance today, Edwards has now reached base safely in 26 consecutive games. That stretch now ties Jake Slade’s record for the longest on-base streak of the year for any Buck. He also extended his hitting streak to nine games.
The Bucks take on the Border Cats for the final time this season tomorrow, Sunday, Aug. 3, at 3:35 pm (CDT) at Riverfront Stadium.