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2025 La Crosse Loggers Baseball There’ s No Place Like Copeland
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Year, Clay Chapman( Florida Southern University) of Duluth led the Northwoods League with a sparkling ERA of 1.99 while leading the Duluth Huskies to the North Division Championship before losing in the Summer Collegiate World Series to Madison. The Waterloo Bucks had a fantastic season as they set the League record for regular season wins by a Northwoods League team( 51) before losing to the Duluth Huskies( 2-0) in the North Division Championship Series. The second year Lakeshore Chinooks won the second half of the very competitive South Division before losing to the eventual Champion, Madison Mallards,( 2-1) in the South Division Championship Series. The 19th Northwoods League All-Star game was played in Eau Claire, WI at historic Carson Park and attracted 80 MLB scouts who watched a very competitive game won by the North Division( 7-5) and MVP Shortstop Carter Burgess( Sam Houston St.) of the Rochester Honkers. Adam Martin( Western Carolina) of the St. Cloud Rox put on an impressive show in the Home Run Derby to take the title. Following the All-Star game a group of MLB scouts convened to choose four( 4) teams to compete in the first“ Big League Dreams Showcase” in Madison, WI a week after the All-Star game. A double-header pitting 2 North Division Teams versus 2 South Divisions teams gave scouts, fans and an international viewing audience an idea of the depth of talent now present in the Northwoods League on an annual basis. A documentary crew circulated through the League conducting interviews and footage for a production on the 20 year history of the Northwoods League slated to be released in the summer of 2014. Finally, the League welcomed back Kenosha, WI and a renovated Simmons Field along with Kalamazoo, MI to the circuit, for play in 2014, making the Northwoods League the largest organized League in the world with 18 teams.
2014 The Northwoods League began the 2014 summer as the largest organized baseball League in North America, and perhaps the world, with 18 member teams. Those 18 teams drew over 1.1 Million fans as the League became the first summer-collegiate baseball league to draw over 1 Million fans in a single season. This total was more than 3 of the 4 Short-Season MLB affiliated leagues in 2014. The South Division of the Northwoods League drew over 230,000 more fans than any other summer-collegiate league with new teams in Kalamazoo, MI( 80,761) and Kenosha, WI( 72,838) accounting for over 150,000 fans between them. The Northwoods League’ s 20th All-Star game became a highlight of the season, as outgoing MLB Commissioner Allan H.“ Bud” Selig was the guest speaker at a gala dinner celebration of the Northwoods League All-Stars held by the Lakeshore Chinooks. In a pitchers’ duel won by the South Division, 3-0, before 2,106 fans the following night, all runs were accounted for by Pete Alonso( University of Florida) of Madison, with a three-run homer in the 4th Inning. He was named the MVP of the game, which foreshadowed his MVP honors for the entire League later in the season. Hometown boy, Brett Siddall( Canisius), of the Lakeshore Chinooks, won the Home-Run Derby in a swing off with a majestic homer over the right field wall. Hall of Famer Robin Yount and long-time Milwaukee Brewer Jim Gantner were in uniform, coaching the respective teams during the game. The Lakeshore Chinooks were the story of the 2014 summer as they won both halves of the South Division, tying the Northwoods League record for wins( 50) during the regular season. In the North Division, the Willmar Stingers took the first-half Championship while the Mankato MoonDogs claimed the secondhalf title. The Wisconsin Woodchucks, playing in a beautifully renovated Athletic Park, in Wausau, WI, claimed the other playoff spot in the South Division by virtue of having the second best overall record, edging out the inaugural Kenosha Kingfish by one-half game. Lakeshore and Mankato won their respective Divisional series and met in the Summer Collegiate World Series with Lakeshore sweeping the series, 2-0, to take the title and cap off a storybook summer. In addition to Alonso taking home the MVP award with a. 354 batting average with 18 homers, Matt Kent( Texas A & M) of Rochester and Ryan Smoyer( Notre Dame) of Kalamazoo took home Co-Pitcher of the Year honors. Smoyer compiled an 8-1 record with a 2.01 ERA for the inaugural team while Kent had a 2.09 ERA, striking out 69 batters and walking only 10. In Wisconsin Rapids, WI the Northwoods League Foundation helped construct the first Interactive Handicapped Accessible Venue in all of the sporting world at Witter Field, creating a new and exciting experience for all handicapped fans. Fans in the venue were able to interact, via Wi-Fi, with the home team manager in a designated inning each night. The Northwoods League also offered via its own YouTube Channel a video subscription service for all 648 regular season games, All-Star game, Showcase and playoffs. A YouTube representative commented,“ We loved how you took advantage of our tools in a way we had not seen previously.” It was enormously successful. The League featured its second annual“ Showcase” event in Madison,