July 16, 2016
St. Cloud, Minn. – It was a record setting night in front of a crowd of 2,006 fans at the Rock Pile on Friday night, as the St. Cloud Rox (5-3, 29-14) topped the Mankato MoonDogs (6-4, 28-17) by a final score of 12-4.
Luke Ringhofer (South Dakota State) set a new franchise record with his 36th walk of the season in the second inning of the game, and extended it with another walk in the fifth. He topped the previous record of 35 set by Boo Vazquez in 2012. Ringhofer, who was named an All-Star last week, also picked up two singles and an RBI in the game.
Michael Strem (Boston College) had the best performance of any Rox player at the plate this season, driving in a season-high five runs in the win. All of Strem’s RBI came on two hits, a bases-clearing double in the second and a two-run single in the fifth.
The second inning was the biggest of the night for the Rox, as seven runs came across the plate. The frame started with six straight one-out singles that brought home three runs. Ricky Ramirez (McNeese State) drove in his team high 28th run with a fielder’s choice, and Ringhofer’s walk loaded the bases for Strem’s double.
Starting pitcher Shelby Lackey (University of the Pacific) stumbled a bit in the third inning, allowing two runs to score, but had a nice overall outing, throwing 5.0 innings with five strikeouts and four runs allowed.
St. Cloud put another crooked number on the board in the fifth inning as they scored five runs. Ramirez, Ringhofer, Strem, and Mason Mamarella (Kent State) all collected RBI in the inning.
Mamarella was playing in his first game since July 6th after battling an illness. He got one hit, one walk and an RBI in the outing.
Reliever Collin Strall (LSU) came on in the sixth inning and, like he has all season, shut down the opposition. He lasted 4.0 innings and struck out three batters. He did not allow a run dropping his ERA to 0.96 for the season.
This was the eighth time that the Rox have scored more than 10 runs in a game this year. Their run production Friday was more than the total runs from their previous three games.
The Rox will return to Joe Faber Field on Saturday night to take on the Rochester Honkers. It will be a Rox Piggy Bank giveaway & Quarter Drop presented by Great River Financial Credit Union. The first 300 fans 12 and under receive a piggy bank and have a chance to pick up 4,000 quarters on the field after the game.
Single game tickets can be purchased 24 hours a day at www.stcloudrox.com, by calling (320) 240-9798 or by visiting the Rox ticket office located at the Municipal Athletic Complex.
Tonight’s game one St. Cloud Times Player of the Game was Michael Strem for his efforts at the plate. For more coverage of the Rox during the 2016 season visit www.sctimes.com.
For more stats and information about the game, here is the boxscore.
The St. Cloud Rox 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, visit www.stcloudrox.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
