Duluth Padres Qualify For WBA Playoffs

Aug 1, 2012

By: Max Mercy

The Duluth Padres have advanced to the 64th annual Wisconsin Baseball Association Playoffs. Duluth finished third in the Upper 13 League with an 8-6 record, the most league wins in the club’s six-year history.

The Padres were given a #4 seed by the WBA and will face the #1 seed in their bracket, the Whittlesey Reds. The Reds were 10-1 in the Dairyland League, and tied for first place with the Everest Merchants. Duluth and Whittlesey will lock horns at 3 p.m. on Sat., Aug. 11 at Rib Lake, Wis. The winner will play at Rib Lake on Sun., Aug. 12, at 3 p.m. against the winner of the Sparta Miller/Chippewa Falls Lumberjacks game.

This is the second trip to the WBA Playoffs for the club, but the first as the Duluth Padres. In 2008, the club’s second year of existence, the then-Proctor Padres finished 7-5 in the Upper 13 circuit and tied for third place. They lost their only playoffs game 8-5 to the Brill Millers of the Independent League at Haugen.

The club was established in 2007. The Padres moved to Duluth from Proctor in 2010, but kept the Proctor Padres name that season. The 2012 season is the second as the Duluth Padres.

The Padres’ leading hitters are C/OF Tim Nylund (.267 AVG, 15 R, 20 H, 9 RBI), OF/3B Bob Baxton (.261 AVG, 10 R, 12 H, 10 RBI), and 1B/3B Matt Chruscielski (.260 AVG, 14 R, 13 H, 12 RBI). Their leading pitchers are Anthony Bush (5-2, 1.51 ERA) and Jesse Olson (5-4, 2.30 ERA).

The other Upper 13 League teams in the playoffs are the Superior Lakers, Twin Ports North Stars, and Ashland C&S Design Protractors.

The WBA consists of 62 teams in six leagues. The top 32 teams qualify for the playoffs. The semifinals of the playoffs will be held Aug. 10-12 at four sites (Rib Lake, Hayward, Haugen, and Osceola). The finals will be held Aug. 17-19 at Osseo.

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