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Northwoods Eau Claire Express

Late Game Surge for the Express Not Enough

June 1, 2023 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Eau Claire Express News Release


Willmar, MN - Eau Claire traveled to Willmar Wednesday night to face the hometown Stingers. The Stingers, celebrating their opening day of the season, kicked off with a win over the Express with a final score of 8-6.

The troubles started for Eau Claire in the bottom of the 1st inning, as starting pitcher, Trey Felker (Montevallo) gave up a solo home run to Willmar's Scott Anderson. Anderson proved to be a thorn in the side of Express pitchers all night, as the Stingers star went 3 for 4 on the night, and drove in 3 runs.

Felker stayed in longer than previous Eau Claire starters in the young season, but Willmar had his number in the bottom of the 4th inning. They tacked on 4 more runs on 4 hits, and sloppy fielding led to 4 costly errors.

The scoring cooled down between the two teams following the 4th inning, as Nick Fitzanko came in to pitch, throwing 4 strikeouts in 3 innings, and keeping the Stingers in line.

In the top of the 7th, it was Eau Claire's turn to score, as they loaded the bases up on walks. This led to a Grant Gilooly (Santa Fe CC) groundout RBI, which scored the lead runner. Willmar retaliated though in the bottom of that same inning, where they responded with a quick 2 unearned runs.

Hunter Rosenbaum made his Eau Claire debut, coming in in the bottom of the 8th inning, and immediately found himself facing a tough test. After filling the bases, he hung strong and struck out the final 3 batters for the Stingers, working his way out of an early-season jam.

The top of the 9th featured an Express team that was determined to not go down without a fight. Facing a 7-run deficit, Eau Claire came to the plate and started feasting off the Willmar pitching staff. Camden Ross (Western Kentucky) started things off with a double, followed by a Gilooly double, which scored Ross. DJ Massey (Central Arizona) then worked his way onto the bases following an error by the Willmar 3rd baseman. This error, paired with heads-up baserunning led to Tanner Marsh (St. Thomas) and Gilooly coming home and scoring.

A few more singles from Ryan Nagelbach (UIC), Reed Latimer (Montevallo), and Barry Eiseman (Montevallo) rounded out the hitting for the Express on the night, and Bronson Rivera (Hawaii) drove in the final run for the team, bringing the score to a halt at 6-8, before the final out.

The Express will stay in Willmar to face the Stingers again this Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. CST.



Northwoods League Stories from June 1, 2023


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