Bazzani Closes Beetles Season with Victory

Published on August 13, 2012 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Alexandria Beetles News Release


Duluth, MN - It was the fitting end to a wild 2012 Northwoods League season, with All-Star closer Anthony Bazzani striking out Duluth's clean-up hitter for the final out in a 5-4 Alexandria victory on Sunday.

Alexandria (33-37, 20-15) used a bases-clearing double from Dallas Hannah in the first and a two-run single from John Loeffler in the fifth, with two of the newest providing the decisive hits, and Alex Guilford and Bazzani, the rocks in the bullpen all season long, slammed the door late on the Huskies (38-32, 19-17).

With the victory, the Beetles finish the second half in second place in the North Division after a seventh place finish in the first half and evened the season series with the Huskies at five games apiece.

Against All-Star starter Joey Novak, the Beetles pounced early as Matt Lowenstein led off the game with a walk, Ben Moore, named the League's MVP after a record-breaking campaign, singled him to second, and Loeffler was hit by a pitch to load the bags. On the first pitch to Hannah, the second-baseman lined a double up the ally in right-center with all three runners crossing the plate.

Duluth answered right back against Scott Sanderson, who pitched five to earn his third consecutive victory of the summer. The first three men all reached on a hit by pitch, single, and walk, and a throwing error and groundout brought in a pair. The Huskies tied the ballgame in the third by manufacturing a run after a leadoff single.

Novak found a rhythm until the fifth when Alexandria sent seven men to the plate to take the lead for good. Again, the inning opened with a Lowenstein walk and a one-out single for Moore. Robert Case reached on a fielding error to load the bases, and Loeffler singled hard into center to score both Lowenstein and Moore and put the Beetles back in front 5-3.

From that point on, the story was the Beetles pitching as Sanderson retired the side in the fifth, Guilford allowed just a single base-runner in the sixth and seventh, and the electric Bazzani came on to earn his League-leading 17th save. The second-year closer allowed an unearned run in the eighth as the Beetle lead was cut to 5-4, but the Huskies could not push across the tying run.

Alexandria finishes the year with a league-leading .301 team batting average and placed three, Bazzani, Moore, and Tanner Vavra, who finished with the league lead in batting at .381, on the postseason All-Star team.

Moore led the league with a Northwoods-record 166 total bases, record-tying 38 extra base hits, record-shattering 84 RBIs, and finished tied with his Alabama teammate Kenny Roberts for the league lead in home runs with 16, tied for fourth most in league history.

After dropping to 8-10 halfway through the second half, the Beetles went 12-5 the rest of the way, winning nine of their final 11 games at home in the process.

Visit alexandriabeetles.com all week for a review of Alexandria's most exciting games of the summer as well as a comprehensive season recap of the 12th summer of Beetles baseball.

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Northwoods League Stories from August 13, 2012


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