In the early afternoon on Wednesday, the Mankato MoonDogs were not quite certain that they were going to be able to play their final home game of the regular season. Rain had been falling all morning and there were standing puddles on the field. But hard work from the entire staff right up until game time gave the fans a chance to watch their team one more time, as they held on to defeat the Duluth Huskies 6-5.
It took both teams a few innings to get their bats warmed up, but in the bottom of the third, the MoonDogs struck first. Daniel Amaral started things off with a one-out double, stole third base, and scored on a wild pitch for the first run of the game. Minutes later, Brady Pfaadt drove in two more with a single to give the MoonDogs a 3-0 lead.
MoonDogs starting pitcher Brett Newberg continued his streak of impressive pitching, keeping the Huskies scoreless through the first three innings. An unearned run in the top of the fourth closed the Huskies’ gap to 3-1, but the MoonDogs took that run right back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double by Ethan Valdez.
The Huskies finally managed to score an earned run off Newberg in the top of the fifth, but once again, the MoonDogs added one of their own in the bottom half on a towering solo home run by Pfaadt, giving themselves a 5-2 lead.
After Reid Browning pitched a perfect sixth inning in relief of Newberg, Alvaro Rubalcaba led off the bottom of the inning with a home run to extend the MoonDogs lead to 6-2.
The top of the seventh inning was the toughest test for the MoonDogs. After a run scored on an error, two more came in on a home run by Chase Strumpf to cut the Huskies’ deficit to 6-5. But Matt Young and Naithen Dewsnap combined to pitch 2.1 innings of one-hit ball and shut the door on the Huskies.
Amaral and Pfaadt had two hits apiece, while Pfaadt also led the team with three RBIs. The MoonDogs improve to 21-11 in the second half and will finish the regular season with four games on the road, starting with the Bismarck Larks tomorrow at 7:05.
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 180 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 website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
