Blue Ox rebound with doubleheader sweep, Bucks search for answers

Bemidji’s Blue Ox turned a Friday setback into a Saturday statement, sweeping Warroad 11-1 and 12-2 in five innings after a 4-1 loss to Nisswa. Landon Hanson opened the rebound with a solo home run in the eighth inning against Nisswa, then helped drive the turnaround by going 4-for-5 with three RBIs in the doubleheader.

The response mattered because the first game could have lingered. Instead, the Blue Ox scored 10 runs in the first two innings of both games against Warroad and never let either contest settle in. Casey St. John set the tone in the opener, pitching five innings with seven strikeouts as Bemidji rolled to the 11-1 win. In the nightcap, St. John did even more damage at the plate, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs, while Gunner Ganske picked up the win in the 12-2 finish.

The weekend left a different picture for the Bemidji Bucks, who were winless after a pair of losses that showed how quickly momentum can vanish in town ball. Bemidji led Buffalo 3-0 through three innings before falling 6-3, then scored first against Centennial on a Peyton Neadeau RBI double before Centennial answered with 10 unanswered runs in a 10-1 loss.

That split across the two Bemidji clubs is part of why the next meeting draws attention beyond the box score. The teams are listed for a July 29 game at Security Insurance Field, and they were also headed toward a July 2 matchup on Sanford Family Night, another marker on a summer calendar already packed by the Bemidji Jaycees’ Water Carnival, set for July 1-5. In a town where baseball is stitched into the season, the Blue Ox’s quick reset and the Bucks’ search for answers are as much about local identity as they are about standings.