By Connor Wachtel
Willmar, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs continued their streak of being defeated by the Willmar Stingers to nine games on Monday night. After the Dogs tied the game in the top of the ninth, the Stingers walked it off with a 3-2 final in the bottom half.
BOX SCORE: Willmar 3, Mankato 2
The Stingers got on the board first in the second. It created a 1-0 lead that came from an RBI single by Daniel Walsh (Sacramento City).
Kaden Fowler (Georgia) slapped another RBI single for Willmar in the fifth. It added to the lead to give the Stingers a 2-0 margin after five.
The MoonDogs came to life in the bottom of the ninth. Adan Fernandez (Nova Southeastern) got things started with a leadoff single. Fernandez eventually scored off a Stingers wild pitch. Then, Tyler Casagrande (Arizona) came through with some clutch hitting to score Josh Elvir (Angelo State). The RBI single evened the score, 2-2.
It was the Stingers turn in the bottom half and they didn’t take it for granted. A bases-loaded walk allowed the Stingers walk off as winners in the game. After walking off against Mankato for their 9th consecutive win against the MoonDogs, the Stingers maintained their undefeated record against the Dogs.
Player Notables:
Fernandez led the MoonDogs offensive charge with a 2-4 night and a run scored.
The MoonDogs starter, Tyler Lesley (Angelo State), had a solid night. He pitched seven complete allowing eight hits and a pair of runs. Lesley also struck out four in the no decision. The less went to Fabian Muniz (Angelo State) after he surrendered a trio of walks, a hit and a run in the final frame.
The win went to Aldo Fernandez (New Mexico State) after he gave up the game-tying run in the ninth. Polo Portela (Cumberlands) led the Stingers as the starting arm. He pitched the first six frames allowing one hit and a walk while striking out five.
Due up for the Dogs:
The Mankato MoonDogs (25-28) take on the Willmar Stingers (29-24) again tomorrow night. Shane Barringer (Bellarmine) will be the starter for the Dogs for the first time this summer. First pitch will go out at 7:05 p.m. at Bill Taunton Stadium in Willmar, Minn.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, 225 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG), World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS) and MLB All-Stars Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). 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 and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.