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2024 La Crosse Loggers Baseball There ’ s No Place Like Copeland
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Canadian entry , the Thunder Bay Border Cats , who took home the coveted hardware when they won the NWL Championship . The Cats , who were making their first playoff appearance , knocked off the defending champion Madison Mallards , 2 games to 1 , in an exciting Championship Series witnessed by record crowds the final two games in Thunder Bay . Border Cats reliever Shawn Williams ( College of Charleston ), son of former Big League Manager of the Year Jimy Williams , set a new NWL saves record with 20 , eclipsing the previous mark of 19 established twice in the previous three seasons . Perhaps the biggest on-field story was Waterloo ’ s Zach Daeges ( Creighton ), who ended the season as the NWL ’ s first triple crown winner . The slugging first baseman led the circuit by batting . 366 , belted 13 home runs and tied for the RBI lead with 48 . However , Madison outfielder Ryan Rogowski ( Illinois ) claimed the MVP award by hitting . 345 and leading the NWL in hits ( 86 ), triples ( 5 ), runs ( 52 ), and setting the all-time stolen base mark with 44 . Alexandria , MN hosted its first All-Star game before a record crowd of 1,857 back in July . Once again , the NWL had over 70 players drafted in the MLB Amateur draft in June and watched 6 of its former alumni make their Major League debuts in 2005 , bringing the total to 25 former players to have gone on to play in the Big Leagues .
2006 The 2006 season saw continued growth as the Northwoods League broke another attendance record as over 813,000 fans came through the gates . The Madison Mallards led the way , drawing over 6,000 fans nightly to Warner Park , fondly known as “ The Duck Pond ”. Eight of the twelve Northwoods franchises set new attendance records in the League ’ s 13 th season of play , as the average attendance League-wide ballooned to 1,989 per game . The Rochester Honkers won the Championship in record-setting fashion , finishing with a 50-17 record , prior to sweeping through the playoffs with four straight victories . They defeated the Madison Mallards in the divisional championship , before knocking off the defending Northwoods League Champion Thunder Bay Border Cats in the championship series . The Honkers were led by reliever Jake Toohey ( Illinois ) who set a Northwoods League record for saves with 24 and all-purpose first baseman / pitcher Efren Navarro ( UNLV ) who was named the League MVP . The League ’ s All-Star game flourished in La Crosse , WI as former Major League Manager Bob Brenly addressed the All-Stars at a gala luncheon prior to the combine and game attended by a bevy of Major League Scouts and over 3,400 fans . Brenly ’ s son Michael ( UNLV ), played for the La Crosse Loggers in 2006 , and Oney Guillen ( North Park , IL ), son of Major League Manager Ozzie Guillen played in Thunder Bay . Pitching dominated the scene in 2006 as only five batters hit above the coveted . 300 batting average . The Madison Mallards set a League record for Team ERA as they posted a 2.17 ERA . Pitcher Charlie Shirek ( Nebraska ) set the career ERA record for all Northwoods League pitcher ’ s as he posted a 1.47 ERA in his two seasons as a Duluth Huskie . The Major League Amateur Draft saw a record 96 current or former Northwoods players taken as the League ’ s talent continues to escalate and gain recognition from Major League teams . For the third consecutive season the League had a former pitcher drafted in the first round as former La Crosse Logger Max Scherzer ( Missouri ) was the 11 th pick overall . He follows former St . Cloud River Bat Thomas Diamond ( New Orleans ) 10 th overall in 2004 , and former Wisconsin Woodchuck Lance Broadway ( Texas Christian ) 15 th overall in 2005 . The Northwoods League inked a national television broadcast agreement with the ESPN family of networks to bring Northwoods baseball to a national television audience for the 2007-2009 seasons . The League also announced expansion to the cities of Green Bay , WI and Battle Creek , MI bringing the League to 14 members for the 2007 season . Nine Northwoods League alumni made their debut in Major League Baseball in 2006 , bringing the total to 35 former players who have gone on to shine in the Majors .
2007 In 2007 , the Northwoods League got bigger and better , once again ., by growing in size , expanding to a new media frontier , breaking more records , and having dozens of alumni advance their baseball careers . The League grew to 14 teams with the addition of the Battle Creek Bombers and the Green Bay Bullfrogs . The Battle Creek franchise became the first Michigan entry and the League now had a presence in four U . S . states plus the Canadian province of Ontario . However , it was the Green Bay Bullfrogs that made the big splash on the field as they became the first expansion franchise to reach the playoffs after running away with the South Division first half championship . They accomplished this , in part , by breaking a nine year old League record for consecutive victories by winning 15