Northwoods La Crosse Loggers

Loggers Bop Woodchucks 5-1

Published on June 23, 2013 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
La Crosse Loggers News Release


LA CROSSE, WI - On what turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous Sunday evening, the Loggers (17-9) defeated the Woodchucks of Wisconsin (9-16) by the score of 5-1.

Collin Lee (Memphis) struck out the first two batters of the game. Woodchucks' third baseman Damek Tomscha sent Lee's first pitch fastball to the warning track in right, but Mike Nadratowski (Grand Valley State) made the inning-ending catch.

Nadratowski was not done there. The sophomore -who happened to be celebrating his birthday--sliced a fly ball into the left field corner. Rob Bennie dove and came up short, allowing the ball to roll to the fence. The Loggers' right fielder sprinted around the bases for his first home run of the summer.

With one out in the top of the third, Garrett Rucker tied the ball game with a deep home run into the outfield cabins. That would be all the scoring Lee and the rest of La Crosse's staff would surrender.

In the bottom of the fourth, Brandon DeFazio (San Mateo) got things started with a single up the middle. After Connor Teykl (Rice) was robbed on a diving catch by Bennie, catcher Austin Rei (Washington) smoked a double over Bennie. DeFazio scored to give La Crosse a 2-1 lead entering the fifth.

Lee induced an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play in the top of the sixth. The freshman provided yet another quality start for the Loggers. He scattered six hits over six innings and struck out five Woodchucks en route to his first victory of the season.

A lead-off big fly by catcher Max McDowell (UCONN) extended the Logger lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth.

James Guillen (USC) and Jonathan Van Eaton combined to pitch a scoreless inning in the seventh. Van Eaton, who made his season debut, struck out three in an inning and two-thirds of work.

Closer Craig Caufield (Memphis) came on in the top of the ninth. With two runners on and two down, the freshman struck out center fielder Austin Diemer to seal the series win.

Rei finished the night 3-3 with the RBI-double. His average now sits at a team-high .391.

Johnny Bekakis (Long Beach State) extended his hitting streak to five games. The redshirt sophomore collected multiple hits in all three games against Wisconsin.

La Crosse will have their first off-day on Monday before heading to Wausau for two more games against the Woodchucks. Tuesday night's game will begin at 6:35pm. Be sure to tune into the Loggers Radio Network where Micah Schroeder and Nick Rytilahti will bring you all of the action.

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Northwoods League Stories from June 23, 2013


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