A rain soaked Sunday afternoon in Thunder Bay was foreshadowing of the result for the
Mankato MoonDogs as they closed out their two-game series with the Thunder Bay Border Cats,
dropping 8-1 on Sunday.
A scheduled first pitch from 1:35 p.m. was pushed back to 5:30 p.m. due to consistent rain in
Ontario all day, and once the game started, Mankato couldn’t shake off the rust from the sit-and-
wait game.
The first two-and-a-half innings saw no scoring, with the MoonDogs leaving four runners on
base. However, the Border Cats struck for two runs, one on a wild pitch, and one on an RBI
single to open the scoring.
Caleb Strack (Iowa) got the start for Mankato, and although not perfect, pitched a decent game,
allowing one more run in the fifth inning and exited the game after five frames, allowing four
hits and three runs while striking out three. Unfortunately, his offense couldn’t break through and
give him any run support.
The MoonDogs got on the board for the only time in the seventh inning. Down 4-0, Asher Bradd
(Illinois) reached on an error, stole second, and came around to score on the second double of the
day by Max Williams (Florida State) to make the score 4-1.
However, Thunder Bay would put the game to bed by putting up a giant four spot in the seventh
inning, and that was all they would need to coast to the 8-1 victory.
The loss put the black and orange one game back of first place in the second half Great Plains
West race. After an off day Monday, the MoonDogs are back in action Tuesday as they open up
a six-game homestand against the Bismarck Larks with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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, over 325 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. 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 Rockers as your favorite team.
