DULUTH — In terms of storybook endings, the Duluth Huskies’ Northwoods League championship game on Thursday at Wade Stadium turned into a nightmare in the ninth inning.
The Huskies led the Green Bay Rockers 8-4 after the fifth inning, but the visitors rallied to tie the game over the next three frames.
After Xaige Lancaster hit a one-out double, Duluth’s Devin Costa struck out the next batter and induced a high fly ball to the right side. Second baseman Jake Downing called it, but then seemed to lose it in the lights at Wade Stadium. First baseman Reagan Reeder couldn’t recover and the ball dropped, allowing Lancaster to score and the inning to continue.
Ethan Surowiec (3) of the Duluth Huskies reacts after losing to the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League Championship at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
The Rockers added another run, went on to win 10-8 and ended the Huskies season. All five of Duluth’s appearances in the NWL’s championship game or series have ended in losses.
The Huskies have bounced back all season, coach Marcus Pointer said, and they were again on Thursday. After Green Bay took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, Northwoods League MVP Ethan Surowiec hit a lead-off home run and Reeder drove in George McIntyre.
“Our guys have been resilient all summer long,” he said. “It was a battle back and forth — big innings for good numbers — but we had a mishap late that we weren’t able to overcome, but I’m as proud as ever of this group.”
Ethan Surowiec (3) of the Duluth Huskies celebrates with Elijah Fairchild (45) after hitting a solo home run against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
The Rockers took the lead again in the fifth inning, but McIntyre and Ethan Cole hit back-to-back two-RBI singles to put the Huskies in the lead and Jake Downing added a two-RBI triple to put Duluth up 8-4 after five.
Cole, a Duluth East graduate heading to play at the University of Minnesota next spring, said their six-run fifth inning was a matter of keeping it “simple.”
“In those moments, you can really try to do too much,” he said. “So I just tried to stay simple and then once I hit it, it’s always a good feeling when you get a two-RBI hit in a big game like this. Once it happened back-to-back, it felt really good and momentum is what you want in baseball games like that.”
For a team that started 3-9 in the first half of the season, the Huskies overcame players coming in and out of the lineup and rallied to turn it into a race to the finish.
Ethan Surowiec (3) of the Duluth Huskies hits a solo home run against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
“They were a phenomenal group,” Pointer said. “From day one, guys have been in and out throughout the summer, but they gelled and it’s a family. That’s the one thing we preach here, we just try to do the right thing and treat everybody right and that’s why we have a lot of returners.”
Cole missed the first half of the season, but he saw how the group was already coming together.
“We didn’t really know each other right away, but we seemed to have a really good chemistry,” he said. “It just kept building, we got hot at the right time and we were winning games when we needed to win games.”
Rowan Kelly (1) of the Duluth Huskies is tagged out by Green Bay Rockers first baseman Joe Mennella during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Reagan Reeder (25) of Duluth Huskies declares himself safe at home after scoring against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Rowan Kelly (1) of the Duluth Huskies celebrates after scoring a run against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Ethan Surowiec (3) of the Duluth Huskies celebrates with the team after hitting a solo home run against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
George McIntyre (19) of the Duluth Huskies celebrates after scoring against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Rowan Kelly (1) of the Duluth Huskies celebrates after scoring a run against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Reagan Reeder (25) of the Duluth Huskies steals second base against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Ethan Surowiec (3) of the Duluth Huskies celebrates with the team after hitting a solo home run against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Reagan Reeder (25) of the Duluth Huskies celebrates on the way to first base after hitting the ball against the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Danny Hesse (35) of the Duluth Huskies reacts after losing to the Green Bay Rockers during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Tyler Palmer (4) of the Duluth Huskies reacts after the Green Bay Rockers take a two-run lead during the Northwoods League championship game at Wade Stadium on Thursday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Jamey Malcomb has a been high school sports reporter for the Duluth News Tribune since October 2021. He spent the previous six years covering news and sports for the Lake County News-Chronicle in Two Harbors and the Cloquet Pine Journal. He graduated from the George Washington University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in history and literature and also holds a master’s degree in secondary English education from George Mason University.