Waterloo, IA – Brooks Masters started strong with a career-high six strikeouts, then turned the ball over to the bullpen. Caleb Parker delivered the go-ahead RBIs in the bottom of the seventh to give George Jewell the runway to the win in his Northwoods League debut in a 5-3 Bucks sweep over the Huskies.
It was a pitchers’ duel early in the series finale between Duluth and Waterloo. Three straight scoreless innings were delivered by Huskies’ starter Owen Marsolek and Bucks right-hander Brooks Masters on Sunday afternoon.
The Bucks scored first in the bottom of the fourth. Bubby Dosztan-Campbell reached on an error, then Jake Slade served a single to left. One batter later, Jack Coluzzi ripped a double to left-center field to bring both runs in to score to jump Waterloo in front 2-0.
That was all the Bucks would get against the Huskies’ starter Marsolek. He posted five strikeouts in a six-inning quality start to keep Duluth within striking distance.
In the top of the fifth, Duluth got a run back. Three walks loaded the bases before Reagan Reeder was hit by a pitch to force a run home to make it 2-1.
In the top of the seventh, the Huskies grabbed the lead. Wyatt Pennington led off the inning with a double, then an error allowed Jacob Koerselman on and Kayden Campbell walked to load the bases. One batter later, Reeder lifted a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2. During the next at-bat, a balk allowed Campbell to come home to score to put Duluth up 3-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Bucks snatched the lead right back. Tayvon Homolar led off the inning with a single, then Larry Edwards reached on a walk. During a double steal, Homolar scored on a throwing error to level the tally at 3-3. Next man up, Collin Brightwell was hit by a pitch. The Bucks executed another double steal in front of Caleb Parker who singled back up the middle to plate a pair to whisk Waterloo ahead 5-3.
In his Northwoods League debut, George Jewell got the final nine outs, including a double play, to secure the 5-3 victory over Duluth for his first win in the Woods.
With the victory, the Bucks go to 27-36 overall and 13-16 in the second half of the season. With the penultimate homestand under their belt, Waterloo heads north to Thunder Bay for a two-game series with the Border Cats. Game one is set for 6:35 pm EST Monday night. Both starters are TBD.