MANKATO- Minn. The Mankato MoonDogs, a member of the Northwoods League, are excited to announce the signings of redshirt-freshmen Blake Tritch from North Dakota State and Austin Bollinger from Nicholls State University. Both are part of the pitching staffs on their respective college teams and will join teammates already signed on the MoonDogs roster for 2017.
Blake Tritch, a 6'2", 195 lb. right-handed pitcher made three appearances out of the bullpen this spring as a redshirt freshman for the Bison, going 2-1. He had his best outing on April 18th, going two innings and giving up zero hits, striking out two. Tritch started his freshman year in 2016 before beying sidelined with an injury after two starts for the rest of the year. Tritch played his high school baseball at Chaska High School in Chaska, Minn., where he was named all-state, all-conference, and all-section as a senior batting .333 with 38 hits, nine doubles, three triples, seven homers, and 12 stolen bases. On the mound, he threw a no-hitter, struck out 77 and walked 20. He is majoring in exercise science at NDSU. Tritch joins NDSU teammate Drew Fearing on the MoonDogs' 2017 roster.
Austin Bollinger is a 5'10", 175 lb. left hander and the fourth player from Nicholls State to appear on the 2017 MoonDogs roster. He has been reliable out of the bullpen this spring for the Colonels, making 16 appearances. With 21.1 innings pitched, Bollinger has allowed 5 earned runs, 6 doubles, and 1 home run. He also walked 6 and struck out 19. His most successful appearance came on April 18th. He worked 4.1 innings against Southern Mississippi, giving up zero runs and just one hit while striking out 3 in a 16-8 loss for Nicholls State. Bollinger is a native of Houma, Louisiana and in high school at Terrebonne H.S. earned All-State, All-District, and All Region Honors. He is majoring in Geonomics at Nicholls.
MoonDogs home opener is scheduled for May 31st at 7:05pm at Franklin Rogers Park. Tickets can be purchased online at http://northwoodsleague.com/mankato-moondogs/ or by calling (507)-625-7047.
The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visitwww.mankatomoondogs.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.
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The Northwoods League is the proven in the development of elite college baseball players. The 23-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 160 Northwoods LEague players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmerman (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App store or on Google Play.
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