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Northwoods Duluth Huskies

Early Barrage Proves Just Enough for Huskies in One-Run Victory Over Dock Spiders

July 27, 2024 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Duluth Huskies News Release


The Duluth Huskies scored eight runs in the first three innings and then narrowly hung on for a, 8-7, victory over the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders Saturday night at Wade Stadium.

The Huskies (13-9, 29-26) nearly added another what-if to their collection in the summer but narrowly held on against the Dock Spiders (8-15, 21-35) to stay in first place for at least another day.

The Dock Spiders entered play walking the most batters in the league by a wide margin. The Huskies, having drawn the third-most walks in the league to this point, took advantage of just that in the early going.

The Huskies used two hit batters, a walk, an RBI double by Ethan Cole and an error to score the first two runs in the game right away off of Dock Spiders starting pitcher Jace Midbon. After a 1-2-3 second, the Huskies tagged Midbon for six runs in the bottom of the third, sending ten to the plate.

The inning turned from bad to worse for the Dock Spiders in large part due to four walks issued by Midbon. In total, he issued six over his 2.1 innings pitched. The Huskies got two big run-scoring hits to maximize the damage. Cole drilled a two-RBI single and Brady Sullivan followed that up later with an excuse-me double down the left field line that chopped just over the shallow infield. By the time the dust settled, Duluth led, 8-0. However, they would not score again.

It left plenty of time for Fond du Lac to start to chip away. And chip away they did.

It started right away in the top of the fourth as the Dock Spiders went off for five. Three walks and an error by the Huskies helped the inning out, but the lead quickly was trimmed down to three.

The Dock Spiders scored one more in the sixth to cut it down to 8-6. That's as close as it got before the ninth.

The final inning started with a single and a walk allowed by Rowen Barnes. Having seen enough, Marcus Pointer went to his all-star closer, Caden Kratz, to try to finish the job. In one of the strangest ways possible, he faced two batters and got three outs. The first two came on a double play turned by the Huskies. It started tailor-made - a ground ball right at Jayden Duplantier - but he missed the throw to first. Huskies 1B Joe Vos was able to retrieve it and they threw out Connor Cooney as he was trying to take an extra base. A run did score to cut it to one. But, with the bases empty, Kratz was able to get the last out with ease and allow the Huskies to hold on.

The win, combined with a loss by Thunder Bay to St. Cloud, gives the Huskies a 1.5 game lead in the division.

Up Next

The Huskies will wrap up interleague play Sunday afternoon in the rematch between the Huskies and Dock Spiders at the Wade. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 pm.



Northwoods League Stories from July 27, 2024


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