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Published On: June 18th, 2018

 

Mankato, MN. — MoonDogs infielder Kyle MacDonald sat down with our front office to help fans get to know him better in the first edition of our new series “Soft Toss”.

MacDonald, a junior from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, plays his college baseball with the Red Wolves of Arkansas State. This past season MacDonald held several team highs including a .346 batting average, 50 run season, drove in 50 rbi’s, and launched 15 longballs.

MoonDogs: Kyle, you have 6 home runs this season, how do you explain your success at the plate so far?

Kyle MacDonald: “It’s just one of those things when you come in and you want to help your team as best you can and make a good first impression. I am just looking for pitches to hit. Swinging hard, finding the barrel, and just kind of getting lucky.

MoonDogs: The Northwoods League is comparing you to Anthony Rizzo. What do you have to say about that?

Kyle MacDonald: “That’s awesome. I have heard that once before. There was another article that someone wrote in Seattle about that too. Its always cool when you can get compared to someone like Anthony Rizzo who is obviously a great power hitter for the Cubs and all-around hitter. When they showed that video, that was side by side swinging, it was pretty similar. So hopefully I can be where he is someday.”

MoonDogs: At Crowder you set a record for hitting 15 home runs in a season, and hit another 15 at Arkansas State this season, has this always been a strength of yours?

Kyle MacDonald: “It kind of started my senior year of high school. Growing up I wasn’t much of a hitter and honestly, I wasn’t even that great at baseball all around. My senior year of high school I took it more seriously when I quit hockey, started working out, got a personal trainer and got into shape. My senior summer I hit 11 or 12 and I think that was the start of it and when I got into college it just carried on from there.

MoonDogs: The team is competing for a spot at the top of the standings. What is it like for a group of guys, largely unfamiliar with each other to join up and have success?

Kyle MacDonald: “It’s fun. Obviously when you win it is easier to come together. No one is fighting, no one is arguing, and it is a lot of fun. We are here to get better. Obviously, it is a summer team and coming in not too many people knew each other. We are a real close group of guys and it has become a good group. We are just trying to have fun and when you win you have fun.

MoonDogs: Tell us about your journey to the Northwoods League.

Kyle MacDonald: “I played out in Western Canada in the WMBL the last two summers. My head coach there, Joe Carnahan is good friends with Ryan Kragh and then one of my assistant coaches at Arkansas State is good friends with Matt Wollenzin and so they just kind of talked to them about it for me. I wanted to come and play in front of some scouts. Obviously the WMBL is a good league but they did not have many scouts coming to Canada to watch. So, my coaches told me it would be a good opportunity to come here, put up some good numbers, and get seen by some scouts.

MoonDogs: What are your team and personal goals for the season?

Kyle MacDonald: “Teamwise I would love to win a championship. That’s why we are here. That’s the fun of the summer. A group of guys that you don’t know come together and try to win a championship. Personally, I just want to stay in shape, improve my game as much as possible and put up numbers to try and help the team win games.”

 

Soft Toss Questions:

Do you have any game day rituals? Nap

Favorite player? David Ortiz    

Favorite Movie: Shawshank Redemption

Favorite Professional Team: Toronto Blue Jays

Biggest pet peeve: Nails on a chalkboard

One thing MoonDogs fans should know: I’m from Canada.