ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The St. Cloud Rox (22-8) earned a playoff spot despite losing on Friday night.  The Rox fell to the Bismarck Larks (10-23)  3-0 but clinched the Great Plains West first-half title and a playoff spot.

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It was a rough start for the Rox's Brayton Thomas, who walked the first three batters he faced and didn't make it out of the first inning. Jaron Bleeker came in and was stellar out of the pen, tossing 6 innings, allowing just one run on one hit with 4 strikeouts.

Jaron Bleeker, PHOTO by Alex Jurkuta/St. Cloud Rox
Jaron Bleeker, PHOTO by Alex Jurkuta/St. Cloud Rox
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The Larks were up to the match, though, and four Bismarck pitchers combined to shut the Rox down, giving up just 3 hits and striking out a combined 13 batters.  The two teams will square off again on Saturday at Joe Faber Field at 6:05 p.m.


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