Advertisement
P.J. Polk hit a grand slam, Derek Helenihi and Kellen Hoime supplied three-run homers and several players jumped into between-innings promotions as the Loggers frolicked their way to a 13-0 victory over the South Division champion Wisconsin Woodchucks.
La Crosse finished the season with 39 wins, the most in franchise history.
There was a serious moment before the third inning when Derek Melton was named the Loggers’ 2008 MVP. Melton, a junior first baseman from the University of Evansville, suffered spinal injuries in a swimming accident Aug. 3. Melton has been in Gundersen Lutheran since the accident
and is in stable condition after surgery.
“In the stands and in the dugout it was a lot of fun, but our guys did a pretty good job of competing,” Loggers manager Andy McKay said. “There was a heartfelt tribute to Derek. It kind of ran the gamut of emotions tonight.”
It was the final game for Loggers juniors Helenihi, Justin Toole and Kevin Zalnis. Toole played in 122 games in his two-year Loggers career, fifth on the team’s all-time list.
“Definitely, it’s been the best two summers of my life,” Toole said. “I met a lot of great people, got better as a player and had a lot of fun doing it.”
While the Loggers enjoyed a fun farewell, the Woodchucks, who beat the Loggers 1-0 Sunday to clinch the second half pennant, basically took the night off.
The Woodchucks used eight pitchers and Jeff Cowan played all nine positions in the field. Wisconsin hosts Madison in Game 1 of the divisional playoffs on Tuesday.
Helenihi gave the Loggers a 3-0 lead with his first home run of the season. It came with two outs in the first inning against Cowan, who started his tour of the diamond as the Woodchucks’ pitcher. Hoime’s homer was also his first of the year and came in the second inning, giving La Crosse a 6-0 lead and officially turning the game into a farewell exhibition.
Polk launched a grand slam, his fifth homer of the summer, in the seventh inning to make it 13-0.
“Anytime you know you have to go home at the end of a season, you want to leave with a win,” Polk said.
Wade Kapteyn, a teammate of Melton’s at Evansville, pitched the final four innings for the save, striking out five. Aaron Dott and C.J. Stallings (2-1) also pitched.
Kapteyn and catcher Andy Pascoe, Melton’s other teammate from Evansville, helped present Melton’s MVP banner.
“Derek is my bud and I got pretty emotional; it was hard for me,” Kapteyn said. “Derek brought more heart and intensity every day than anyone I’ve known and I wanted to finish the game the way he would have. I was pitching for something more than myself. That was for Derek.”
The Loggers finished the 2008 season as the franchise’s best on paper.
The team set a record with 39 wins, eclipsing the 2004 playoff team (34) and the 2006 team (34). This summer’s edition also set records for runs (319), RBI (278), doubles (94), stolen bases (114), walks (306) and on-base percentage (.346 through Sunday).
Individually, Cory Vaughn set the stolen base record (26), Polk established the record for walks (41) and tied the record for runs (37), Chris Elder set the doubles mark (15) and Cole Green’s 1.49 ERA beat the franchise’s gold standard of 1.51, set by Ben Stanczyk in 2003.
“The hallmark of a good player and a good team is consistency and predictability,” McKay said. “I think we did that. I’m proud of our season and I stand behind it. I’m happy for our guys.”
|
More Loggers News: |
