Bucks End Season With 10-Inning Loss To St. Cloud

The Waterloo Bucks ended their 2016 Northwoods League season, falling to the St. Cloud Rox, 3-2, in 10 innings at Riverfront Stadium Sunday afternoon (Aug. 14).

Trailing 2-0 after seven innings, Waterloo fought back to tie game with two runs in the eighth. Alex Boxwell closed out the season with a 12-game hitting streak after doubling in the sixth while Adam McGinnis finished the year with 62 runs batted in, a franchise record for most RBI in a single season.

St. Cloud (24-12, 48-23) secured the win with a run in the top of the 10th. Marcus Carson drew a walk to begin the inning before advancing to second on a balk. Carson then moved to third on a wild pitch before Michael Stream delivered a two-out RBI single to left, scoring Carson from third for the game-winning run.

The Rox jumped in front with a two-out run in the first inning. Carson doubled off the base of the right field fence on the second pitch of the game and later scored on Mason Mamarella's two-out single to right.

Denis Karas doubled the Rox’ lead to 2-0 with a solo homer to left-center to begin the second. The home run was Karas’ team-high fifth of the season and gave him his second RBI of the series.

After failing to have a single base-runner reach third in the first seven innings, Waterloo (14-22, 36-36) tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. Iowa native Kyle Crowl reached on a St. Cloud fielding error to start the inning before Boxwell singled to left. Zach Weatherford advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt before Lane Milligan brought in Crowl with an RBI groundout to second. McGinnis then tied the game with a two-out double to right, scoring Boxwell from third.

Derek Hendrixson, who was the player from the Bucks named to the Northwoods League postseason All-Star team earlier on Sunday, recorded a no-decision in his first start of the year. Hendrixson allowed two runs over a season-high six innings, yielding four hits and a walk while striking out seven.

St. Cloud's Carlo Graffeo was just as good in a no-decision for the Rox. Graffeo retired 16 of the first 18 hitters he faced and allowed two unearned runs on seven hits in a season-eight innings.

With the loss, Waterloo finished the season at 36-36 overall. It's the third time in four years the Bucks have ended the season with record of .500 or better.

Story Contributor: Jared Schlensky - Waterloo Bucks​