The walk-off magic didn’t carry from the Northwoods League semifinal game to the championship for the St. Cloud Rox.
Hosting the Green Bay Rockers on Friday at Joe Faber Field, the St. Cloud Rox failed to mount a comeback after building momentum late in the game, like in their semifinal Tuesday against La Crosse. Unlike Tuesday, St. Cloud lost the league final 4-3 and ended the season runner up for the second time in three years, winning the title last in 2017. It was the Rockers’ (41-31) first title.
“This is a really good group,” Rox manager Brian Lewis said of his team after the game. “They really connected with each other; they really pull for each other. It’s kind of cheesy but it’s a family and these guys just really care about each other. We wanted nothing more than to win for each other and these fans. It’s just disappointing.”
The team had pulled together Tuesday to rally six runs in the last two innings to beat the La Crosse Loggers in the semifinal, but Northwoods League pitcher of the year Brett Sanchez shut down the hot Rox (43-25). Division III pitcher of the year out of Belhaven (MS), Sanchez gave up two earned runs on four hits, struck out five and walked one.
Once he was pulled, St. Cloud was comeback-minded, knocking six hits in the latter four innings to close the deficit to one run. The lineup hit three singles in the final frame, putting the winning run-on first and the tying run on second, but St. Cloud State’s Sawyer Smith flied out for the final out.
“It goes to show you don’t need to throw 95 to compete at this level,” Lewis said of the side-arm hurler. “Once we got late in the game and we got into the bullpen – it’s been that way all year, these guys never give up and I guarantee you that every guy in there when Sawyer Smith was up to bat believed we were winning the game.”
Kevin Butler, Ben Vujovich and Jose Gonzalez had the three hits in the ninth for the Rox, with Gonzalez picking up an RBI. Vujovich had batted a run in during the seventh inning and matched Gonzalez’s 2-5 night. Noah Greise had the other RBI for the Rox in the seventh, going 1-3 in the game.
Mason Olson took over in the fourth inning for St. Cloud starter Evan Esch and pitched the rest of the game, even convincing Lewis to keep him in the game when he visited the mound in the eighth inning. Combined, Olson and Esch gave up eight hits and walked six batters. Olson had seven strikeouts.
“I’ve been doing this a long, long time and I’ve never had a chance like this,” Lewis said. “And I only had this chance because of those guys over there. I love every one of them.”
While the Rockers dogpiled and celebrated on the infield, hugs were shared in front of St. Cloud’s dugout. Lewis said even in just a summer, the team got really close. He said this year was extra special with the deep run.
“One of the great things about this league, guys I coached years ago, I’ve maintained relationsips with them, texting and those sorts of things,” he said. “It makes me happy to know that down the road these guys will be doing the same thing and I wish them all the best.”
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: The St. Cloud Rox fall to the Green Bay Rockers in Northwoods League championship