By: Tim Beasley, NWL Media and Player Relations Intern
I was able to catch a potential NWL championship series matchup between the two first half champions in the Mankato MoonDogs and Eau Claire Express Monday night in Eau Claire. I’ve now seen both teams play twice this summer and they appear to be very similar. Neither team jumps out at you with big time prospects all over the field (they do have a few of those though) but they have meshed together really well and do the little things necessary to win games. Mankato won behind the six scoreless innings by starter Tim Griffin (Rollins). Griffin seemed to battling himself most of the night but competed hard and used his low 90’s fastball to overpower Eau Claire’s hitters in key situations.
While the drama was taken out of the last week of the first half, the second half races should be very interesting. Madison and Battle Creek were right there with Eau Claire before falling off just a tad at the end. La Crosse has been a solid team as well. In the North it wouldn’t surprise me to see Alexandria, Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud or Brainerd make a run at the title. All of them have potential and I believe St. Cloud could be a real sleeper. They have lost a ton of close games and many walk-off losses which means they aren’t far away. I’ve seen them several times and I can see several younger but talented players that are still adjusting. First year field manager Marcus Clapp and his team are 6-4 in their last ten games and could be getting ready to start the second half strong.
