The Lake Superior Sea Dogs concluded their season on August 11 with a 2-0 loss to the Ashland Merchants at Spooner in the second round of the Wisconsin Baseball Association playoffs. A win would have secured the club's first berth in the WBA state tournament.

 

Jesse Olson (2-1 W-L, 3.00 ERA), a 2011 Hermantown graduate and Proctor's junior varsity coach, pitched a complete game against Ashland and did not allow an earned run.

 

Jake Lewis (PHS '12), Rails associate head coach and Proctor American Legion head coach, earned a complete-game win in the Sea Dogs' first-round playoffs game, a 4-2 victory against the Eau Claire Rivermen at Spooner on August 10.

 

Lewis earned the club's MVP and Cy Young awards by posting a 3-0 record and a 1.56 ERA in 34.2 innings pitched. He set a new club record with 18 strikeouts against Hurley on June 2, and later became the club's all-time leader for strikeouts. He now has 362 strikeouts in 302 innings pitched over his nine-year career with the club that began as the Proctor Padres in 2007.

 

Another Rails alum who contributed to the Sea Dogs was Bryce Huffman (PHS '18). Huffman, who plays baseball for St. Scholastica and is a Proctor Legion assistant coach, batted .389 and led the Sea Dogs with five doubles.

 

Rails head coach Anthony Bush (PHS '94) served as the Sea Dogs player/manager and guided the club to the best win percentage in its 13-year history. The Sea Dogs (8-5 overall, 7-3 league) finished in second place, behind Ashland, in the WBA's Upper 13 League. They qualified for the WBA Playoffs for the eighth time and followed up last year's first-ever first-round victory with another playoffs win.