Watkins, Jones homer as Huskies Rout Rochester
Duluth’s offense built an early lead and the pitching staff allowed just four hits as the Huskies rolled past Rochester 20-1 on Monday. The 19-run victory was the sixth largest in Northwoods League history.
The Huskies got the scoring going with three runs in the first inning. Sean Watkins and Chris Gilbody hit back-to-back two-out doubles to put Duluth on the scoreboard. John Lagattuta drew a walk and scored along with Gilbody on a two-run single by Hunter Bigge. The Huskies added two more runs an inning later. Julian Escobedo reached on a fielder’s choice, got to third base following a pair of balks and scored on a groundout. Augie Isaacson followed with a single and was driven in by Gilbody.
General McArthur laced a one-out double in the bottom of the third and Tony Monroy followed with a walk. A successful double steal put two runners in scoring position for Julian Escobedo who promptly ripped a two-run double. Escobedo then stole third base and scored on an error. Isaacson drew a walk before Watkins belted a two-run homerun to give Duluth a ten-run lead.
Rochester’s Logan Denholm hit a one-out solo homerun in the top of the fifth but the Huskies responded with eight runs in the home half, capped by Christian Jones crushing a grand slam. Duluth added two more runs in the eighth as McArthur drove in Harrison Moore with a double before scoring on a groundout.
Six different Huskies finished with multiple hits while eight different players recorded an RBI. Gilbody and Escobedo each went 4-6 on the night; Gilbody drove in two runs and scored twice while Escobedo reached base five times and led the team with four runs batted in. Watkins had a 3-5 night, finishing a triple shy of hitting for the cycle while reaching base five times. As a team, Duluth finished the game with 20 hits.
Jack Cornell was the winning pitcher. The right-hander finished with five strikeouts while allowing one run on three hits in five innings of work. Watkins, Kyle Mora, Mitchell O’Connor and Augie Voight combined to throw four scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out four.
Duluth has now won five consecutive games and improve to 41-18 (17-6 second half) while Rochester dips to 28-31 (11-12) on the season. The Huskies hold a one-game lead over Willmar in the second half standings and own a three-game advantage over the Stingers overall. The Huskies and Honkers finish their two-game series at Wade Stadium on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm.
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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.
