Northwoods League MVP Michael Hallquist capped record season with .353 batting average and 65 RBIs. Photo by John Gilbert.

It’s a season-ending ritual in baseball, that the day after the final game, the players all come to clear out their lockers and pack up to scatter. In the Northwoods League, it’s even more meaningful, since the players come from various colleges all around the country and when they leave to return to their colleges, they may never again rejoin the same teammates again.

For the Duluth Huskies, it was even more significant this season, because Greg Culver, who has been with the team for nine years and general manager for the past seven, announced he was leaving that position and moving to Menomonee, Wis., to go into business.

That means somebody new will be working out the arrangements for players next season and will be responsible for the makeup of the team. The Huskies fell short of expectations this summer, but only because of a shortage of quality relief pitchers. They got some good mileage out of their starters, but so often the bullpen found creative ways to blow large leads.  

Nevertheless, the team was highly entertaining, despite the situation where some players leave and others arrive as the season goes along. One of the best success stories of the season, however, was Michael Hallquist, a player who did return after last season, and he came back as something of a nobody, who played at Minnesota-Crookston. Determined to prove himself in his second Northwoods season, Hallquist worked out constantly and pushed himself to become an impact player.

A native of Fargo, N.D., Hallquist was listed as a second baseman, and he played very well at second, but he also found a home at shortstop, a more challenging position with longer throws and more range to cover.   Hallquist astounded teammates and opponents alike, batting .353 and hitting a league-leading 15 home runs while driving in 65 — second only to Brandon Compton, an outfielder and designated hitter, who led the league with 71.

The Huskies made a strong challenge to win the league’s second half in the Great Plains East division of the Northwoods League, but a late-season losing skid and a highly competitive group of teams relegated them to fourth place. But in their final two games, the Huskies showed their stuff, rallying from a 4-1 deficit on Friday night to beat Thunder Bay 9-4, in a victory that was secured when Compton slammed a double in the last of the eighth inning, and Hallquist followed by launching his 15th home run. As he reached home plate, Hallqjuist did a little dance step as he crossed the plate, smiling broadly as he pulled off his helmet. Maybe it was to celebrate the dramatic victory, and maybe it was to celebrate his own accomplishment — he has transferred to Division I Ball State for the coming year as a junior.

Compton will return to Arizona State as a sophomore, after sitting out his whole freshman year following surgery. So this was a huge challenging season for him, too, and he will be a major Sun Devils asset next spring.  

Both Hallquist and Compton make the Northwoods League All-Star team, which is a tribute to their dedication, and also to Greg Culver’s belief in them. Possibly Culver’s final ploy with the Huskies came after that Friday night game. With threatening weather looking worse for Saturday’s finale, the Huskies decided to put on their end-of-the-season fireworks show Friday night, and it was one of the more spectacular fireworks shows you will see.  

The Huskies followed that up by not only playing Saturday night, but blasting Thunder Bay 14-3 to end the season.

Some stirring golf

By chance, my final channel-scrolling effort Sunday afternoon happened upon the PGA golf tournament going on in Memphis, with a fellow named Lucas Glover putting on a show with one of those weird, mallet-tapping putters. He had made three putts longer than 25 feet Friday for a 6-under par 64 and the early lead.  

By Sunday afternoon, the pressure was on from a half-dozen challengers, and Glover wound up tied with Patrick Candlay, needing a 20-footer and a 30-foot putt to do it. The playoff was short, because Candlay hit his drive into a lake on 18, the first playoff hole. Glover simply hit it down the middle, lagged the putt close, and knocked it in. The announcers raved about Glover beating all the young pups to win at age 44, but we had just as amazing a story unfold in Duluth when Joel Johnson, age 52, came up from Hugo for the second time in a couple weeks and won the 98th annual Northland Invitational, a match-play pressure-cooker.

On Saturday, Johnson won his quarterfinal match to reach Sunday’s semifinals, when he beat Alex Kolquist 4 and 3, as Brian Moores defeated Tony Marchio 3 and 2 in the other morning semifinal. In the final, Sunday afternoon, Johnson was battling to lead Moores 2-up through 10 holes. Johnson then birdied 11 and smacked his tee shot on 12 that almost went in for a hole-in-one. That ballooned his lead to 4-up and Johnson held firm to win 3 and 2.

He warmed up for the 98th Northland classic by also winning the 97th Arrowhead tournament at Ridgeview. Maybe he should consider buying a home in Duluth to eliminate the need for the long drive on the freeway.