THUNDER BAY- Ont. The MoonDogs had the lead on three seperate occasions Thursday night but ultimately lost a closely contested game to the Thunder Bay Border Cats 9-8, snapping their winning streak at six in the first game since the All-Star break. Jake Ortega (CSU-Bakersfield) had an impressive night at the plate, finishing 3 for 3 with an RBI and a walk. Logan Busch (NDSU) also had a strong game, going 2 for 4 with 3 runs batted in.

 

The MoonDogs started the scoring with a run in the top of the first. Daniel Amaral led off the game being hit by a pitch. An error on a ground ball to second baseman Colin Rosebaum put runners on the corners and Kyle Cuellar (UCLA) hit a single to load the bases. Zac Wiley (Bellarmine) struck out and Logan Busch hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Amaral from third. The MoonDogs went up 2-0 in the second inning starting with a one out double by Jake Ortega followed by a Ryan Kreidler single to put runners on first and third. Daniel Amaral grounded out to second, bringing in Ortega from third.

 

The Border Cats got one run back in the third after Mark Venice walked and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Biondic. Thunder Bay then added three runs in the fourth on four hits including doubles by Jean Francois Garon and Mark Venice and RBI singles by Andy Weber and Brendan Dougherty. MoonDogs relief pitcher TJ Satterly limited further damage by getting Colin Rosenbaum to ground into a 4-6-3 double play, ending the inning with the score at 4-3.

 

The MoonDogs took the lead again in the sixth inning. Kenton Crews walked, stole a base, and scored to tie the game at 4. Then Jake Ortega came in to score on a Seth Rosenburg wild pitch. The Border Cats again did not give up. Instead they scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to retake the lead 5-4. Then the MoonDogs went ahead 6-5 in the top of the ninth thanks to a 2 RBI double by Logan Busch, scoring Jake Shepski and Rees Rua (pinch runner).

 

Down to their final out in the ninth, the Border Cats put runners on first and second. They received a single into short left field by Brendan Dougherty to complete the walk-off win MoonDogs closer Naithan Dewsnap (CSU-Bakersfield) took the loss in the ninth while Evan Johnson collected the win in relief for Thunder Bay.

 

Both teams will be back in action at Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 7:05pm.

 

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 The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. 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 170 former 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 Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit [www.mankatomoondogs.com]or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.

 

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC).

All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.