The Northwoods League has announced its All Stars for the 2017 season, and the Mankato MoonDogs, along with the St. Cloud Rox, lead the North Division with five selections.
Toby Hanson (Minnesota) was selected as an outfielder. Since joining the MoonDogs in mid-June, he is hitting .416 with 12 RBIs, and is currently sporting an 11-game hit streak.
Infielder Ethan Valdez (Nicholls State) is near the top of the Northwoods League leaderboard in multiple categories. He ranks third in both hits and average, and is tied for the league lead in doubles, with 13.
Catcher CJ Schaeffer (Western Illinois) has been hitting very well, as evidenced by his .317 batting average. But perhaps just as important is the timing of those hits. Schaeffer was the man at the plate for both walk-off wins for the MoonDogs, driving in the winning runs and sending everybody home.
Starting pitcher Collin Floyd (Youngstown State) is 2-0 over six games, striking out 33 batters in 35 innings of work. His 2.31 ERA is the best on the team of any pitcher with at least 25 innings pitched.
Finally, MoonDogs closer Naithen Dewsnap (CSU-Bakersfield) has been lights-out on the mound, not even allowing a run until his tenth appearance. Over the course of his 12.1 innings, he has fewer hits allowed (four) than saves (five).
The MoonDogs All-Stars will fight for the North Division on July 18th, in Wausau, WI.
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The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit [www.mankatomoondogs.com]or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC).
All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
