Champion Locos close Lemonade League with 3-1 triumph

LANSING, Mich. – In the Lemonade League’s 20th and final game, the league champion Locos rallied with a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to edge the Lugnuts, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at Cooley Law School Stadium.

The Locos finished with a 12-8 record against the Lugnuts, winning ten of the final 13 games.

Every one of the 20 games in the league was a sellout, played before a capacity crowd of 100 at Cooley Law School Stadium. (The stadium capacity was limited to 100 fans by health directive of Ingham County.)

The majority of those games were high scoring, but in the finale, the game’s only run through the first five innings was a bases-loaded walk drawn by the Lugnuts’ Andrew Morrow (Michigan State) in the third inning.

With two outs in the sixth, the Locos loaded the bases against reliever Elliott Patten (Lansing CC) and Sean Haddlesey (Albion) sent a bouncer to shortstop Mark Connelly (Lansing CC). Connelly’s throw to first, however, came out of the glove of Morrow, a missed-catch error that allowed Matthew Williams (Albion) to tie the game at 1-1.

In the seventh and final inning, the Locos again capitalized on a mistake. With two outs and Michael Stygles (Oakland) at third and Brock Henley (Davenport) at first, Lugnuts reliever Kameron Marnon (Lansing CC) committed a balk, dropping the baseball mid-delivery. Stygles was awarded home, giving the Locos a 2-1 lead. Ben Compton (Olivet) followed with a double to left-center, driving in Henley for insurance.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Lugnuts put the tying runs on base, but Cal Johnston (Lansing CC) struck out Jake Rydquist (Grand Valley State) to end the game and the season.

In the loss, the Nuts received fine pitching from starter George Ferguson (Lansing CC), who tossed three scoreless innings, striking out one while allowing three hits and a walk, and Benjamin Riffe (Lansing CC), who held the Locos hitless in the fourth and fifth innings, walking two and striking out two.

Locos starter Collin Bradley struck out six batters in three innings – two apiece in each of his innings – before yielding to John Holt (Eastern Michigan) for a scoreless fourth and fifth, Christopher Schmees (Saginaw Valley State) for a scoreless sixth, and Johnston to nail down the seventh.

The Lemonade League was developed as a college wood-bat league headed by commissioner Greg Kigar and director of baseball Chad Roskelly following the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season. 57 total collegians took part in the league, which played from July 23rd through August 22nd. The league featured yellow baseballs, seven-inning games, and a rule that there would be no extra-innings, with a Home Run Derby determining the winning team should there be a tie after seven innings.

No Home Run Derby tiebreaker was ever needed during the Lemonade League’s 20 games.

For more information about the Lemonade League or the Lansing Lugnuts, please visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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