Express back in action in two pivotal series in next four days

It’s back to business for the Eau Claire Express following a three-day NBL All-Star break that saw its star outfielder excel in the League’s Home Run Challenge.

The Great Lakes All-Stars beat the Great Plains All-Stars 9-2 in the annual Northwoods League All-Star game on Tuesday night before more than 2,300 fans at ISG Field, in Mankato, Minnesota.

Express outfielder Brigs Richartz was one of the many Northwoods Baseball League (NBL) All-Stars to participate in the League’s Home Run Challenge which also took place on Monday night at ISG Field Monday evening. Richartz nailed eight homers during the derby and, obviously, the Express are hoping he continues to produce similar results during the waning days of the NBL season, which starts for Eau Claire Thursday night.

And it’s a weekend for playing catch-up for the Express, as they tackle two teams currently ahead of them in the hot Great Plains East Division race in the NBL.

The Thunder Bay Border Cats come to town for a two-game series at Carson Park that starts Thursday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The Express will play the second game of that series on Friday night, before the Waterloo Bucks arrive in Eau Claire for a Saturday night and Sunday afternoon matchup. Game time is also set for 6:35 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday evenings. Sunday’s matinee game against the Bucks is set to begin at 2:05 p.m.

Coming off the three-day All-Star break, the Express currently sit in fifth place in the Great Plains East Division of the NBL for the second half of the season. At 8-10, they are three games behind the division-leading Border Cats and 1.5 games behind the fourth-place Bucks. The Express are 23-30 overall on the season.

To date, with stats from players who have played more than six games for the team, Brady Reynolds leads the team with a .333 batting average (25 games played), while Richartz is number one in both runs (51) and hits (57) in 47 games played. Richartz is also pacing the Express with eight home runs, while Davis rivers is in second place in that statistic with six homers.