Published On: August 14th, 2018

Huskies Advance to Tuesday’s North Division Championship

 

Duluth returned to the Northwoods League postseason in a big way Monday night as the Huskies downed Bismarck 13-5 in the North Division Semifinals.

 

The Huskies got the scoring going just two batters into the ballgame. Augie Isaacson, the 2018 Northwoods League’s Most Valuable Player, singled and stole second base to lead off the game. Nick Sogard followed with an RBI single and advanced to second base on a balk. Sogard reached third on a flyout and scored on a sacrifice by Chris Gilbody.

 

Bismarck notched a run in the third inning but the Huskies responded with four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 6-1 lead. Gilbody led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second base on a wild pitch before Sean Watkins drove him in with a single. Antonio Monroy followed with a base hit and Julian Escobedo singled to score Watkins and Monroy, assisted by a fielding error. A second error allowed Escobedo to cross home plate later in the inning.

Bismarck’s best chance to rally came in the bottom of the fifth when the Larks loaded the bases with one out but could only manage to score twice. The Huskies exploded for six runs in the top of the sixth to blow the game open. Watkins led off the inning with a triple before being driven in by Escobedo. Sogard cleared the bases with a two-run single and a throwing error brought in Isaacson as well. Carlos Moseley scored Sogard with a single before advancing home on a wild pitch.

 

The Larks scored twice in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to seven runs but could get no closer. General McArthur drew a bases loaded walk in the eighth to cap the scoring.

 

Isaacson, Sogard, Escobedo and Watkins each finished with two hits while Sogard led the team with three RBI. All nine Huskies reached base at least once as Duluth finished the game with ten hits. Hayden Shenefield allowed three runs in five innings for his fifth win of the season. Jason Braziel was dominate out of the bullpen, tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out five. The Huskies chased Bismarck ace Hendry Rodriguez after just four innings as he allowed six runs on six hits.

 

The Huskies improve to 48-25 and advance to the North Division Finals against Willmar Tuesday night in Willmar. The Stingers (49-24) rallied from a five-run deficit on Monday and walked off Mankato 8-7 in 10 innings. Willmar is 30-7 on their home field this season, including winning all four matchups against the Huskies at Bill Taunton Stadium.

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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

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