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Mankato

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  I departed Minneopa State Park, where I spent the July 4th weekend camping, around 4:00 Sunday. I stopped at a Kwik Trip for a sandwich and a cold sparkling water. From there I drove to ISG Field, alternatively called Franklin Rogers Field, where I had a ticket to the 5:05 Mankato MoonDogs game against the St. Cloud Rox. I parked outside a shopping mall where I saw the St. Cloud Rox team bus, as well as other fans parking and congregating. I followed them into the stadium from the right field foul pole entrance. Inside the gates, I saw a Rox player giving a little boy a ball. I walked around the concourse to check out the digs before I found my seat under the covered section behind the backstop. The support beams that held up the roof I found delightful and nostalgic for they reminded me of Tiger Stadium. With the couple hundred others in attendance, I stood for the anthem and took photos of the field, where the teams stood in neat diagonal rows, the Rox in baby blue on the third...
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Woodchucks Explode

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  Temperatures reached 82 degrees in Wasau, Wisconsin this afternoon, providing a summer atmosphere for the contest between the Wasau Woodchucks and the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters at Athletic Park. The heat proved conducive to a Woodchucks offensive explosion, the air ripe for the longball: riding a combined 9 extra base hits and 4 homers, Wasau defeated the Rafters 29-2. A number of Chucks  enjoyed good days at the plate: Ryan Chase, a first basemen out of the University of Kansas, went 4 for 5 with a home run and 6 RBI;  playing a long ways from his native Hawaii, Jace Souza, an outfielder from Texas Tech, went 2 for 4 with a grand slam, 2 stolen bases, and 7 RBI; Montana native Kyler Northrop, a shortstop from Washington State University, went 4 for 9 with 5 runs scored, a home run, a stolen bag, and 2 RBI. Central Michigan Chippewa Tyson Potts earned the win for Wasau, striking out 7 and allowing only 2 earned runs in 6 innings pitched.  Through 12 games, the Woodc...
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Royal Oak Leprechauns v Traverse City Pit Spitters, Friday May 29

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  Fan photo from Friday night's Northwoods League contest between the Leprechauns and Pit Spitters. Courtesy: Steve Fideler The Leprechauns defeated the Pit Spitters 10-7 Friday night at Memorial Field in Royal Oak, Michigan. The Leprechauns, who are managed by DJ LeMahieu, got a wicked strong start from Ole Miss pitcher and former Brother Rice standout Blake Ilitch. Ilitch, the grandson of Mike Ilitch, who founded the Little Ceasars empire and owned the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings, got the win after throwing five scoreless. In fact, he threw a no-hitter through five until he exited the game. Down 10-0 after the 7th inning, Traverse City scored 7 in the bottom of the 8th to make it interesting, but that was as close as it got. The Leprechauns and Pit Spitters play again Saturday in Royal Oak before finishing the weekend series on Sunday Up North in Traverse City. 
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Player Spotlight: Luke Meyer (Fond du Lac Dock Spiders)

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"I was rougher than a timber shipping out of Fond du Lac When I headed south at 17, the sheriff on my back" Jason Isbell "Live Oak" Luke Meyer The Northwoods League named Fond du Lac Dock Spiders first basemen Luke Meyer the player of the night on May 28. Meyer, a redshirt freshman out of Wheeling Jesuit University, a tiny college located in West Virginia, delivered a Griffeyesque performance at the plate in the Spiders' 16-8 win over the Madison Mallards, going 4 for 5 with two doubles, a grand slam, and a whopping 8 RBI. A long way from his hometown of Trophy Club, Texas, Meyer appears to be feeling right at home in the Northwoods: through 3 games he is hitting .429 with 6 hits in 14 at bats. Meyer and the Spiders will take a 3-1 record into a Friday night road contest against the 1-3 Lakeshore Chinooks.
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Hottest Starts to the Northwoods League 2026 Season

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A hot and muggy Memorial Day marked the start of the 2026 Northwoods League Baseball Season. Through three games, a couple teams with red-hot starts stand out from the pack: LaCrosse (WI) Loggers  Division: Great Plains East Record: 3-0 Runs scored: 54 Runs allowed: 16 Player spotlight:  Eli Small Born in Elkhorn, Nebraska, not far from the heart of the Northwoods, Small returns to the Loggers for his second season after finishing his sophomore season at Florida Atlantic University. In the summer of 2025, the outfielder saw 212 at bats for the Lumbermen, hitting .311 with 5 homers, 55 RBI, and 40 runs scored. His previous experience appears to be paying dividends already in 2026. Through a paltry 3 games, he has 8 hits in 14 at bats (.571 batting average) with 11 RBI and 8 runs for the Log Crew. Mankato (MN) Moon Dogs Division: Great Plains West Record: 3-0 Runs scored: 41 Runs allowed: 7 Player Spotlight: Charlie Buckles A 6'6, 230 pound first basemen, Buckles is making his N...
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