The Huskies defeat Willmar to return to winning ways
Zach Linfield, zachlinfield@gmail.com
Duluth, Minn. — The Duluth Huskies and Willmar Stingers wrapped up their first contests of the season on Sunday afternoon with a 9-2 Duluth victory and series split. In the earliest game of the day around the Northwoods League, the Huskies snapped their five-game losing streak in front of their largest crowd of the season (1,058).
Manager Marcus Pointer was gifted another fantastic start from Arkansas Razorback Will McEntire (W, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 9 K). The Northwoods League All-Star starter gave the ‘Skies his fourth victorious decision of the season. His nine strikeouts were a collegiate career high, surpassing the June 13th start in Waterloo. After only making one appearance out of the bullpen both in a Huskies and All-Star uniform, McEntire made his first start in 13 days. He now improves to 4-0 on the year. He was relieved by newcomer, Richard Kiel. The Australian toed the rubber for the second time in four days and was perfect in this performance. Two innings, four strikeouts for Kiel who keeps his earned run average at zero.
The All-Star pitcher was backed up by some all-star caliber offense. Multi-hit games from five different Huskies paced Duluth passed Willmar for the entire game. Two hits apiece from Mike Boeve, Peyton Powell, Ambren Voitik, and Calyn Halvorson, and three hits from Michael Brooks. Brooks drove in three RBIs and scored two runs himself. Charlie Rhee impressed at the plate as well, going 1-2, crossing home plate three times as well as walking three times. The scoring was early and often for Duluth as they took a 3-0 lead through three innings and never looked back against Stingers’ starter Kellen Brothers, giving their starter and bullpen the run support that it was lacking for the past few days. Scoring in seven out of eight frames, the Huskies will look to continue that kind of offensive dominance in the coming days against Mankato.
Duluth will return to Wade Stadium at 6:35 tomorrow night and will play the MoonDogs for the fifth and sixth time in the past two weeks. This series with Mankato will be pivotal in the chase for the playoffs as both teams are trailing one other in their respective divisions. Duluth will get the much-anticipated return of Ben Pedersen (1-1, 6.23) after suffering a leg injury in his last appearance on July 3rd against St. Cloud.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th 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, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.