There’s nothing more All-American than baseball, so it’s extremely fitting that America’s Pastime will be played in earnest in the area during this long Fourth of July weekend.
The Eau Claire Express will have a break on Sunday and Monday after being scheduled to play 15 games in 16 days, but the local Northwoods Baseball League (NBL) team will be front and center until then. And the Express’ hiatus on the field will make way for an annual Chippewa Rivers Baseball League (CRBL) classic to take the area spotlight on Sunday afternoon. But before their well-deserved hiatus, the Express will take to the diamond at Carson Park Thursday, Friday and Saturday in important NBL games.
The Express take on the La Crosse Loggers in a July 4th matchup Thursday at 5:05 p.m. before the Minnesota Mud Puppies come to town for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday evenings. First pitch for both games against Minnesota is set for 6:35 p.m.
The Express will be honoring veterans and military members with free general admission tickets to all three home games this Fourth of July weekend. A valid military ID must be shown at the ticket window to get in the gate for free. Additionally, all attending the weekend games will be able to partake in several concession specials — including $2 hot dogs and $3 brats. Other specials will include while supplies last $3 corn dogs, $3 apple strudel and a 16 oz. pour of Twisted Tea rocket pop for $4.
Of note, Tuesday night’s scheduled game against the Waterloo Bucks was postponed due to inclement weather. It has been rescheduled and is now set to be played on July 14 at the Waterloo Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo. Wednesday night’s Express game in La Crosse had not been completed as of press time.
The Express finished the first half of their NBL season in fifth place in the Great Plains East Division with a 15-20 overall record, 7.5 games behind the Loggers who won the division in the first half of the season with a 22-12 record.
Other division winners for the first half of the season were Rockford, Great Lakes East; the Wausau Woodchucks, Great Lakes West; and the Willmar Stingers, Great Plains West. First half-winners automatically clinch a playoff spot by virtue of their first-half division records.
To date, excluding Wednesday’s game against the Loggers, leading the batting statistics for the Express are outfielder Brady Reynolds, with a batting average of .379 in eight games played. Brigs Richartz is in third place with an impressive .328 average in 30 games played and 116 turns at bat. Richartz also entered the NBL record books on Sunday evening as the outfielder set a new record for most runs scored in a game for the Express with five and Owen Washburn rewrote the Eau Claire record book for most RBIs with seven in a game against the Loggers that was dominated by the home team from start to finish in an Express 19-4 win.
Annual CRBL All-Star Game Set for Sunday AfternoonWhile the Express take a two-day break starting Sunday, the Chippewa Rivers Baseball League’s annual All-Star game will take center stage to keep area baseball fans happy.
And a number of local baseball players have been tapped to take part in the annual classic.
The 2024 CRBL All Star Game, hosted by the Jim Falls Sturgeons, is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. at Grumden Field in Jim Falls. The red-hot Eau Claire Bears lead the local teams with nine players being named to the squad, while the Eau Claire Cavaliers and Chippewa Falls LumberJacks have seven all stars apiece and the Eau Claire Rivermen have two players who are going to the annual event.
Eau Claire Bears All StarsEau Claire Bears players selected for the summer classic with their number of All-Star Game appearances as provided by the team on their Facebook page in parentheses are: are Jack Sandvik, catcher (1st); Drew Salyers, outfield (1st); Hunter Guenther, SS/pitcher (1st); Ryan Flock, pitcher (1st); Tyler Plitzner 3B (2nd); Joe Halling, DH (2nd); Blake Johnson, 1B (7th); Chevy Tollefson pitcher (12th); and Todd Lasher, OF/DH (16th).
In addition to those Bears players, Captain Dave Strauch will be a base coach for the all-star team. A feature on Salyers from a recent sit down interview will be in an upcoming edition of the Leader-Telegram.
Eau Claire Cavaliers All StarsThe seven Eau Claire Cavs players chosen are Cade Mueller, third base; Cody Dayton, second base; Sam Knickerbocker, catcher; outfielders Brayton Thillman and Xavier Bembnister and pitchers Andrew Milner and Tyson Woodcock.
Chippewa Falls LumberJacks All StarsThe seven Chippewa Falls LumberJacks named to the 2024 All-Star roster and their number of appearances in the classic as provided by the team on their Facebook page are center fielder CJ Varsho (1st), who has also been named as a starter for the event; Matt Martineau, third base (4th); and pitchers Dylan Waters (2nd) and Dawson Rice (2nd). Garnering their first all-star appearance are shortstop Jake Varsho, pitcher/DH Tyson Lucas and outfielder Blake Trippler.
Eau Claire Rivermen All Stars
The two Eau Claire Rivermen named to the All-Star squad are catcher Jake Becker and second baseman Brett Jensen.
Of note, the 2024 Hall of Fame Class will also be honored during this year’s event. Those to be celebrated are Justin Boiteau, Mark Gannon, Randy Gustafson, Steve Nelson, Roger Nosal, Keith Pitsch, Dennis Zech and Fred Zech.
The lion’s share of area CRBL teams have been on a break this week as their players relax, recharge and prepare for the last several weeks of play before the League’s playoffs. For more on the CRBL as the League’s teams head toward the second half of the season — including reaction on the results of this week’s limited play by the Cavaliers — see Friday’s print edition of the Leader-Telegram.
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