Northwoods League All-Star Game Review
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WATERLOO, Iowa — Cost Cutters Field at Riverfront Stadium hosted the 25th Northwoods League All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 16 with the Great Lakes Division earning a 5-2 win over the Great Plains Division in the first year of the league’s realignment of the 22 teams.
Highlighting the Great Lakes’ Tuesday night victory was Justice Bigbie’s (Western Carolina/Madison Mallards) 2-for-4 night at the plate with two home runs and three RBI. Bigbie’s big night earned him Star of the Stars MVP honors.
The only other multi-hit performance came from Wyatt Ulrich (St. John’s, MN/Bismarck Larks) who also drove in the Great Plains’ lone RBI of the evening.
Bigbie’s first home run of the night gave Great Lakes an early 2-0 lead in the first before the Great Plains were able to respond with one run in the second courtesy of a single from Ulrich. A two-out double from Nic Kent (Virginia/Duluth Huskies) sparked the first run of the night for the Great Plains.
Punches were traded once again in the third and fourth innings after Bigbie homered for the second time, a solo shot to deep right center field that put Great Lakes ahead 3-1 before a pair of singles brought around the Great Plains’ second run in the fourth to make it 3-2.
Scoring was stymied for three innings until the Great Lakes was able to draw back-to-back walks to lead off the eighth that ultimately became two key insurance runs before AJ Archambo slammed the door to pick up the save and seal a 5-2 victory over Great Plains.
Top arm of the night was Will Klein (Eastern Illinois) with a heavy fastball between 96-99 along with a slider flashing plus at 85-87.
