On a muggy night, the Mankato MoonDogs managed to dig themselves out of a six run hole, but ended up losing the game to the Thunder Bay Border Cats, 9-7.
The MoonDogs entered Thursday’s game on a six game winning streak, playing some of their best baseball of the season. But after MoonDogs starter Austin Bollinger stranded a couple runners apiece in each of the first two innings, the Border Cats finally broke through in the third inning, scoring four runs, with the help of a three run homer from Alex Sanchez.
The Border Cats added to their lead in the fourth inning, scoring two more runs on three hits to make the score 6-0. But the MoonDogs managed to get on board in the bottom half of the inning on a Jake Shepski triple. A CJ Schaeffer single in the fifth inning cut the lead to 6-2.
After stranding a runner in both the sixth and seventh innings, the MoonDogs blew the game wide open in the eighth. Shepski led off the inning with a double, his second extra base hit of the game. Drew Fearing followed with a base hit of his own. Two batters later, Ethan Valdez brought them both home with a double, making the score 6-4.
But the inning wasn’t over. Toby Hanson singled to drive home Valdez to make it a one run deficit. He didn’t stay on base for long, however, because Zac Wiley hit a towering home run to give the MoonDogs their first lead, at 7-6.
The MoonDogs hurried to bring in their closer, Naithen Dewsnap, to shut the door on the Border Cats. But for the first time this season, it didn’t go as planned. Before the MoonDogs could enjoy their lead for any length of time, the Border Cats clawed their way back out in front, scoring three runs off Dewsnap. The 9-7 score would turn out to be the final score after the MoonDogs failed to put together a rally in the ninth.
Despite the loss, the MoonDogs managed thirteen hits, getting two apiece from Hanson, Ryan Kreidler, Schaeffer, and Shepski. The MoonDogs fall to 1-1 in the second half, and will look to get back to their winning ways tomorrow night against the Willmar Stingers.
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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.