SPOONER — The Spooner Cardinals got a split over the weekend. They will welcome Hayward to Merchant Park this coming Friday, July 26.
Twin Ports 5, Spooner 2The Cardinals lost a non-league game against the Twin Ports Timbers on Friday night by the score of 5-2. Dawson Jorczak pitched a very solid seven innings, giving up five runs (only two earned).
The Cardinals committed two uncharacteristic errors with two outs in the first inning that allowed Twin Ports to take a 3-0 lead. Spooner’s bats were quiet for the game and only managed five hits.
Haiken Meier had an outstanding evening at the plate with three of the Spooner hits, including an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Twin Ports added a pair of runs in the fourth inning to take a 5-0 lead before the Cardinals scored lone runs in the fifth and sixth inning. Spooner left the bases loaded in the fifth and seventh innings, along with runners in scoring position in the sixth inning.
Each pitcher for Twin Ports was very solid and their lineup consisted of currently college players from University of Minnesota Duluth, St. Scholastica and University of Wisconsin-Superior. The nine-inning game was completed in a blazing fast one hour and 55 minutes.
Spooner 12, Blue Hills 3Spooner returned home to face the winless but feisty Blue Hills Beasts on Saturday night for an Independent League match-up. Blue Hills started the scoring with a pair of runs in the first inning, but Spooner answered with a massive seven-run inning to take control of the game.
The Blue Hills starting pitcher only lasted one-third of an inning before being removed from the game, but the damage had been done. Blue Hills’ reliever kept Spooner off-balance for most the night after that until Spooner scored four runs in the fifth.
The Cardinals had multiple opportunities to end the game with the 10-run rule but could not get another clutch hit. Spooner has relied on the big innings in many of their wins this season, which can be feast or famine.
The win was huge for the Cardinals morale and playoff odds as they climbed back to .500 on the league schedule with two games remaining.
Coming upSpooner (7-6, 5-5 Indy) will host Hayward on Friday night, July 26, at 7:30 p.m. The Cardinals wrap up the 2024 regular season on Saturday night, July 27, as they travel to Ladysmith for their final match-up with the Blue Hills Beasts at 7 p.m. (a rain makeup from June 15).
Hayward and Brill split a pair of games over the week, with Brill beating Hayward 6-2 on Wednesday night in Hayward and Hayward beating Brill in a 2-0 pitchers duel on Saturday at Brill. The win for Hayward ended a four-game losing streak.
Haugen defeated Blue Hills 9-4 after falling behind 4-0 in the first inning. With Brill’s loss on Saturday, Haugen sits alone in first place with two games remaining. Assuming they beat Blue Hills on Wednesday, the Knights and Brill square off in Haugen, with the winner claiming the league title for 2024.
There is a potential scenario where three teams could end up 8-4, which would require the use of tie breakers to determine seeding.
Current standings are Haugen 7-3, Brill 7-4, Hayward 6-4, Spooner 5-5, Blue Hills 0-9.
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