Thunder Bay, ON—Grant Hamilton impressed again, as he would strike out eight Border Cats en route to a 9-0 win for the visiting MoonDogs at Port Arthur Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Mankato MoonDogs (9-10) pulled within one game of  .500 ball for the first time early this season, as they would  be willed on early by starting pitcher Grant Hamilton (2-0). The MoonDogs’ righty would strike out eight Thunder Bay Border Cats (10-8) over 7.0 innings pitched while allowing five hit and three walks, and yielding no runs. Hamilton Notched his second win of the season.

Craig Nennig would have an interesting night at the plate for Mankato. He would go 1-for-1 with a run scored, but four walks. Two of those walks came by way of intentional base on balls. Kyle Weston had a big game for the MoonDogs, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a run scored, and a walk to lead Mankato in hitting.

Carter McEachern lead the Border Cats’ offense in the loss, He went 2-for-4 along with Eddie Posavec to account for four of the six hits Thunder Bay would accrue through the nine-inning game.

Zach Thiac (0-1) would be charged with the loss for the Border Cats, which is their eighth of the season.

The MoonDogs have an off day on Sunday, but will head to Waterloo Monday for a two-game set against the Bucks before returning home to play two more against Waterloo. First pitch is 7:05 PM.

“The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website."