Strong Start Lifts Duluth Over Rox
The Duluth Huskies never trailed Monday night against St. Cloud, downing the defending Northwoods League champions 6-2 at Wade Stadium. The Huskies have now won all six meetings against St. Cloud this season.
Augie Isaacson doubled to lead off the bottom of the first inning and scored on a wild pitch. Isaacson scored again in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by John Lagattuta before Julian Escobedo delivered a two-run single. Lagattuta gave the Huskies a five-run advantage with an RBI single in the fourth.
St. Cloud’s best chance to rally came in the top of the seventh when the Rox singled three times to load bases with no outs. Consecutive sacrifice hits brought home a pair of runs before the Huskies got out of the inning with a groundout. Lagattuta lead off the home half of the frame with a single before General McArthur was brought in to pinch run. McArthur stole second base, reached third on a passed ball and scored on a two-out single by Michael McCann.
McCann recorded three singles to lead the Duluth offense while Isaacson, Lagattuta, Escobedo and Chris Gilbody all finished with two hits. Escobedo and Lagattuta each drove in a pair of runs. Starting pitcher Parker Hanson allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings and struck out four as he earned his first win of the season. Kieran Shaw tossed 2 1/3 shutout innings as he picked up his second save. The game was the fourth this season in which the Duluth pitching staff did not issue a walk.
The Huskies improve to 29-13 overall and 5-1 in the second half of the season while St. Cloud drops to 18-24 (2-4). The Huskies move into a tie with Madison for the best overall record in the Northwoods League and will host La Crosse for a two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.duluthhuskies.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Huskies as your favorite team
