Spooner turned the tides on Hayward after a disappointing Fourth of July showing by beating  previously unbeaten Hayward 12-8 on Friday night in Spooner to greatly improve their playoff chances. The Cardinals took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning with the benefit of two walks, hit batter and a few wild pitches. Spooner added another run in the third inning after singles by Sam Holden and Nick Webster drove Chad Patko home to take a 3-0 lead. Hayward answered back in the fourth inning with three runs of their own after stringing four straight hits together to start the inning before Jeremy Bloomquist was able to end any further scoring threats with a pair of ground outs. It didn’t take long for Spooner to bust the game open as they scored four runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to take a commanding 12-4 lead. With the aid of many walks and a few timely hits. Bloomquist pitched 5 2/3 innings, with four runs given up (three earned), seven hits, and two strikeouts. Mark Nauertz came on to relieve Bloomquist and pitched 1 1/3 innings with one unearned run given up, three walks and three strikeouts. Evan Potaczek pitched the final two innings and allowed three runs (one earned) in the ninth inning after a couple misplayed ground balls by the defense.

Spooner only managed six hits on the game but were beneficiaries of 11 walks and five hit batters and they were able to make the most of their opportunities as 10 of those free passes came around to score runs. Holden and Webster each had a pair of hits, with Webster driving in three runs. Zach Rombach had a “hustle double” and drove in three runs. Trayden Wilson and Brandon Rangel each had an RBI on the night.

Spooner improves to 6-5 overall (4-5 Indy) as they enter the home stretch of the season with two weeks remaining of the regular season. Friday night, Spooner travels to Duluth’s historic Wade Stadium for a non-league game against the Twin Ports Timbers. Spooner defeated the Timbers in a 2023 matchup. Spooner hosts the Blue Hills Beasts on Saturday night at 7:30 for a league game. The Cardinals will need to win at least two of their three remaining games to safely secure a playoff spot.

There was a lot of movement with the Independent League standings as Hayward lost all three of their games over the weekend (Haugen swept Hayward in a DH Saturday night), which vaults Brill to the top of the league at 6-3. Hayward and Brill play each other twice this coming week in a couple other pivotal Indy League matchups.

Other Independent League scores:

Brill defeated Blue Hills 14-4

Haugen defeated Hayward by scores of 6-2 and 6-1

Standings through 7-14

Brill 6-3

Haugen 6-3

Hayward 5-3

Spooner 4-5

Blue Hills 0-7