The Huskies begin their 17th season at Wade Stadium this afternoon
Duluth, Minn — The Duluth Huskies Baseball Club will begin its 17th season at Wade Stadium this afternoon against the Eau Claire Express at 3:05 pm. Excitement for this season is high amongst the staff and the Huskies faithful fans are ready to watch their team play.
The Huskies come into today’s game with a 3-2 record after a five-game road trip where they faced the Thunder Bay Border Cats, the La Crosse Loggers, and the Eau Claire Express. The Huskies offense has been brilliant thus far as they are averaging just under nine runs so far this season. Bradley Norton is currently leading the team in batting average at .333 while Noah Marcelo and Ramon Enriquez both sport team-leading .500 on-base percentages. Meanwhile, Carter Putz has been the Huskies’ main power threat, as he leads the team with 2 home runs and 10 RBI. He also leads the team with 7 hits and holds the team’s second-best batting average at .318.
Marcus Pointer has begun his first year as the manager of the Huskies and is ready to see the fans come out to Wade Stadium today. “Opening day is always great, you’ll always have those butterflies whether you’re in little league or the Major Leagues but we’re ready to put on a show for the fans”, he said. Pointer knows that being able to stay calm and collected under pressure and having the ability to “come back when you’re down” is a key to success, so he was happy to see his team do just that in the first game of the season when they scored five runs in the ninth inning to come back and beat the Border Cats.
When asked about what he hopes to gain out of this season, he “hopes his players can leave after this summer feeling confident that they’re better than they were last summer.” “We want to get a little bit better each day, that’s the end goal.” Pointer was part of the Huskies coaching staff last year and loved the energy that the fans showed all season long. He challenges the fans to “keep up the energy starting with the first pitch today till the last pitch of the season.”
General Manager Greg Culver is in his fifth year with the Duluth Huskies and is happy to know that “summer is back in Duluth” and that “great weather and good baseball is back at Wade Stadium.” This season is just like every other one for him in that he expects this team to be in the playoffs, and to keep sporting a “championship caliber team here summer in and summer out.” Culver’s favorite part about Opening Day is being able to see everyone “come in with a smile on their face and leave with a smile on their face” and wants fans to know that they will not be disappointed with the experience they have at Wade Stadium. His favorite part about being the General Manager of the Huskies is “being able to be a mentor and a teacher” to his players and interns and seeing them go off to “get great jobs and be successful wherever they go off to.”
The Huskies will be in town today and tomorrow and will go back on the road before returning this Friday for a seven-game homestand that will last through next Thursday. Be sure to follow us on our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook so you don’t miss out on any news about the Huskies.
###
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 22 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 200 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.
