Duluth finishes 2018 season perfect outside the U.S.
The Duluth Huskies closed out the season series with the Thunder Bay Border Cats on Wednesday night north of the border to take on their Canadian opponent for the second time in as many nights.
The Huskies (34-16, 10-4) fell behind early but came back with five unanswered runs late in the game to snatch away a victory from the Border Cats (18-32, 5-9).
Thunder Bay took the lead in the second against Huskies starting pitcher Parker Hanson (Minnesota-Crookston) on an RBI single by Shane Connahan (Georgia College).
The Border Cats were able to hold on to the lead thanks to stellar pitching from their starter Connor Centala (North Carolina State). Centala lasted six innings on the mound, surrendering two runs on eight hits while striking out six Huskies.
The Border Cats extended their lead in the fifth with two runs thanks to RBI singles by Brady Gulakowski (North Carolina State) and Dylan Caplinger (Northern Oklahoma).
The 3-0 lead did not last long for the Border Cats, as the Huskies got on the board in the sixth thanks to Tony Monroy’s (Georgetown College) infield single that brought in two runs to score.
Two innings later, Duluth tied the game against Thunder Bay reliever John Sakowski (Creighton) on an RBI single by Harrison Moore (Augusta University).
Following Moore’s first hit as a Duluth Husky, Monroy struck again with a two RBI triple that put Duluth on top for the first time.
Now leading 5-3, the Huskies quickly retired the Border Cats in the eighth, before turning to reliever Kieran Shaw (Harvard) in the ninth.
Thunder Bay loaded the bases with one out before Shaw struck out back-to-back batters to end the game, giving Duluth another big win over the Border Cats.
The win marks Duluth’s fifth straight victory and helps them maintain the best record in the Northwoods League. The Huskies return home tomorrow and Friday for a pair of games against the Bismarck Larks who are coming off a 24-1 loss on Tuesday vs. Mankato.
First pitch for both games against the Larks are scheduled for 6:35 p.m. As always, you can listen to live coverage of the games on 92.1 The Fan in and around Duluth, Minnesota.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in 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