DICKINSON, N.D. — The La Crosse Loggers have won the first-half championship in the Northwoods League’s Great Plains East Division after handing the Badlands Big Sticks a 5-4 defeat on Sunday night.
The Loggers (22-10-1) lead second-place Thunder Bay (21-12) by 1 1/2 games with one game left before the league switches over to it second half of the season.
That means La Crosse has assured itself a playoff spot when the regular season concludes. It is the team’s third straight playoff season, and the first-half title allows it to play the second half with plenty of lineup flexibility to be ready for the postseason.
The Loggers won Sunday night’s game when Ball State University’s Max Kalk singled to center field to score Louisville’s Ethan Edinger from second base and break a 4-4 tie with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.
The Big Sticks (19-13) loaded the bases on two walks and a single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but La Crosse reliever Jack Mount of Wichita State got the final out on a strikeout. Mount pitched the final two innings and still hasn’t allowed an earned run this season after striking out three, walking four and allowing two hits.
Hawaii’s Kedren Kinzie drove in two runs for the Loggers, who received two hits apiece from Florida Atlantic’s Eli Small, Cal Poly’s Xander McLaurin and Kalk. Edinger and McLaurin also drove in one run each.
