Ricky Reynoso and the Huskies offense take control in game one
Duluth, Minn — The Duluth Huskies and the Thunder Bay Border Cats faced off north of the border in Ontario, Canada for game one of a two-game set on Thursday night. On Wednesday night against the Stingers, the Huskies won an extra-inning thriller to get back in the win column; ultimately coming out on top 6-5 after both teams scored multiple runs in the 10th inning. Ricky Reynoso was the starter for the Huskies, who in his last start on July 3rd against Willmar threw six scoreless innings and racked up 6 strikeouts and surrendered just 5 hits.
The Huskies got off to a quick start in the first couple innings as they would lead 6-0 early and knocked Joe Moran out of the game after just the 2nd inning. In the 1st inning though Lance Ford scored the first run for Duluth when Alex Tappen brought him home from 3rd on an RBI groundout. Later on in the inning, Danny Zimmerman got his first hit of the evening and advanced to 2nd on an error that allowed the red-hot Max Guzman to cross home and make it a 2-0 game.
Matt Hogan would get on base in the top of the 2nd inning and was brought home by Max Gamm, who made his Huskies debut in Thursday night’s contest. Gamm would eventually get to 3rd and came home on yet another Border Cats error later in the inning, this time on a Nic Kent groundout. With both Kent and Tappen on the base paths for Guzman, he drilled a double into the gap that was deep enough for both baserunners to score the 5th and 6th runs for the Huskies.
Reynoso didn’t change much about his approach on the mound after his last performance as he continued to pound the strike zone and mix up his fastball and changeup to hitters. After 4 scoreless innings of work, he had already struck out 7 and gave up just 2 hits.
Duluth stayed on fire at the plate in the 5th inning as three straight singles loaded the bases for a pinch-hitting Justin Moore. The barrage of offense off of Trent Valentine continued as Moore brought home Lance Ford and Collin Hopkins with a base hit to extend their lead to 8.
The submarine-throwing Austin Eggleston checked in for the Border Cats in the top half of the 6th for his 9th appearance to try and slow down the Huskies at the plate. Hogan would get his 2nd base hit of the night which gave him 8 multi-hit games on the year. But Eggleston would be the first Thunder Bay Pitcher to not allow a run in his 1st inning of work.
The Border Cats would finally score their 1st run of the night to break up Reynoso’s shutout on a Jordan Larson RBI single with two outs that scored Ryne Edmondson from 3rd.
Xavier Bussey got his 1st hit and RBI when he brought home Max Guzman with a single in the top of the 7th. Guzman led off the inning with a single of his own and got to 3rd on a Danny Zimmerman double. Matt Hogan then got his 1st RBI with a sac fly to center field that gave the Huskies their 10th run and a 9-run lead.
Dennis Boatman would make his first relief appearance in the bottom of the 7th and set down the side in order. Reynoso had his best start of the year in Thursday’s game and continues to put on displays of efficient pitching in every one of his outings, giving up just one run on 5 hits, had zero walks and struck out a season-high 9 Border Cats.
In an attempt to spur a comeback, the Border Cats loaded the bases with two outs in their half of the 8th, but Boatman struck out Jordan Larson swinging to end the inning and keep the Huskies up by 9 as the game entered its final frame.
Neither team would score a run in the 9th inning as Duluth took game one by a final of 10-1. The Huskies’ hitters put on a clinic as Lance Ford and Max Guzman both had 4-hit games and Danny Zimmerman, Matt Hogan, and Max Gamm all had 2-hit games. Almost everyone in the lineup had an RBI and 7 Huskies scored at least one run.
The Huskies go for the two-game sweep tomorrow night in Thunder Bay. First pitch is set for 6:05 pm CT with live game coverage on 92.1 The Fan and twinportssportshub.com beginning at 5:55 pm CT. All Duluth Huskies and Northwoods League games are live-streamed online at portal.stretchlive.com/nwl to watch.
Be sure to follow the Duluth Huskies on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat all season long. Check out duluthhuskies.com for tickets to upcoming games. For more in-depth news on the Huskies, be sure to follow @XtraInningsWithRyne and @JoeChatzHuskies on Facebook.
###
The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 26th 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.
