
Eau Claire Express Are Second-Half Champs and Playoff Bound
August 10, 2019 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Eau Claire Express News Release
Waterloo, IA - The Eau Claire Express are Great Plains East Second Half Champions and have secured their spot in the 2019 Northwoods League postseason.
Thanks to their 11-6 win over the Waterloo Bucks, the Express will play the first half champion Bucks in a best-of-3 series beginning with game 1 at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo, IA on Monday, August 12th. Postseason baseball will return to Carson Park on Tuesday, August 13th for Game 2 with a 6:35 pm first pitch featuring a rally towel giveaway and post-game fireworks! Â If needed, Game 3 will be played in Eau Claire on Wednesday, August 14th. For more information on the Northwoods League Playoff Format, click HERE. To purchase your playoff tickets tonight, click HERE.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap: The Express left it late in Waterloo, trailing the entire game until the bats got hot in the eighth. Trailing 5-6, David LaManna (Notre Dame) provided the spark the Express had been looking for all evening. LaManna's three-run RBI double scored Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly), Brock Burton (Grand Canyon) and Brandon Dieter, to give the Express an 8-6 lead. The scoring would not stop there however, Zach Gilles (Central Michigan) tripled for the second time in the game to drive in Eau Claire's fourth run of the inning while a Nick Marinconz (Cal Poly) RBI double scored Gilles and gave the Express a 10-6 lead.
With all of the momentum in Eau Claire's favor Kuster Kinlecheenie (Montevallo) entered in the bottom half of the inning to hurl for the Express. Eau Claire would score a final insurance run in the ninth due to some heads up base running by Dieter, scoring on a wild pitch. Kinlecheenie finished the game tossing two complete innings to lock up the game for the Express, facing eight batters and striking out four, to advance Eau Claire to the 2019 Playoffs.
LaManna and Gilles each drove in three runs in the game for the Express. 2019 Postseason All-Star Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) went 3-for-4 at the plate with Eau Claire out hitting the Bucks 14 to 13. Four players notched multi-hit games for the Express in Waterloo while the team gained six extra-base knocks in the win.
Peyton Sherlin (Dallas Baptist) picked up the win for Eau Claire tossing two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh, striking out three batters along the way. Express starter Tim Ewald (Dallas Baptist) went 3.1 innings before making way for Paul Petit (Minnesota State) who paved the way for Sherlin.
Tickets to Tuesday's playoff game are available online HERE, or by calling the Eau Claire Express office Monday morning at 9 am. Tickets will also be available the day of the game at the Carson Park box office one hour prior to first pitch. Host family and season ticket holders have the ability to retain their current seats and will be contacted via email.
Northwoods League Stories from August 10, 2019
- Rox Clinch Playoff Berth During Game Two of Doubleheader, Play at Home Monday - St. Cloud Rox
- Galason Cycles as Rafters Beat Chinooks - Lakeshore Chinooks
- Honkers Win Fourth Straight - Rochester Honkers
- Bombers Mount Comeback to Topple Kingfish - Battle Creek Battle Jacks
- Eau Claire Express Are Second-Half Champs and Playoff Bound - Eau Claire Express
- Stingers Beat Huskies - Willmar Stingers
- Stingers Down Huskies 9-1 - Duluth Huskies
- Great Plains East Sub-Divisional Series Schedule Set - Waterloo Bucks
- Galason Makes History, Rafters Blow out Chinooks - Wisconsin Rapids Rafters
- Dock Spiders Crawl over Mallards in Game One - Madison Mallards
- Bucks Collapse Late in 11-6 Loss to Eau Claire - Waterloo Bucks
- Green Bay Falls in Final Road Game - Green Bay Rockers
- MoonDogs Fall to Honkers and out of Playoff Contention Saturday Night - Mankato MoonDogs
- Bombers Comeback to Beat Kingfish - Kenosha Kingfish
- Woodchucks Defeat Green Bay and Win Final Home Game of the Season - Wausau Woodchucks
- KZoo Offense Cold in Loss to Traverse City - Kalamazoo Growlers
- Delano Tosses Three-Hitter, Rox Beat Border Cats in Game One of Doubleheader - St. Cloud Rox
- Rafters Open Pivotal Series in Lakeshore - Wisconsin Rapids Rafters
- Express Players Honored - Eau Claire Express
- Four Rox Players Named Northwoods League Postseason All-Stars - St. Cloud Rox
- Ferguson & Rubalcaba Named to Postseason NWL All-Star Team - Waterloo Bucks
- Two Honkers Earn Postseason All-Star Status - Rochester Honkers
- Northwoods League Announces 2019 Postseason All-Star Team - Northwoods
- Mallards Host Dock Spiders for Last Regular Season Home Game - Madison Mallards
- Former Growler John Schreiber Debuts in the Majors - Kalamazoo Growlers
- Former Kalamazoo Growler John Schreiber Debuts with the Tigers - Northwoods
- Loggers Stay in Playoff Hunt with 8-1 Win over Thunder Bay - La Crosse Loggers
- MoonDogs Fall in Back and Forth 12-Inning Marathon with Stingers Friday Night - Mankato MoonDogs
- Honkers Complete Sweep of Rox - Rochester Honkers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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