The second half of the Northwoods League season started this afternoon, and the Mankato MoonDogs picked up right where they left off in the first half, winning their sixth game in a row. In the second and final afternoon game of the season in Mankato, the MoonDogs defeated the Thunder Bay Border Cats 8-4.
MoonDogs starter Nick Belzer had himself another solid outing, allowing only one run over six innings, striking out three and walking three. The only Border Cat to score on Belzer was Kevin Biondic, who hit a solo home run with one out in the fourth inning.
That lead did not last for long, as the MoonDogs answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the fourth, thanks to run-scoring singles from Jake Ortega and Kenton Crews. After a scoreless fifth, the MoonDogs added two more runs in the sixth inning to build their lead to 5-1. After another Ortega single, right fielder Braden Mosley misplayed a ball off the bat of Alvaro Rubalcaba, allowing him to advance to second base. The two were then brought home on a single from Logan Busch.
The scoring didn’t stop there, however. Three singles, a sacrifice fly, and an error helped the MoonDogs push three more runs across the plate, extending the lead to 8-1. It was looking like the home team was ready to put the game out of reach.
As it turned out, the Border Cats were not ready to go down without a fight. After Addison Reed pitched a scoreless seventh for the MoonDogs, left-hander Matt Young entered the game in the eighth, giving up a couple of home runs to Jean-Francois Garon and Alex Sanchez. By the time Sanchez was finished meandering around the bases, the Border Cats had cut the lead to 8-4.
But a one-two-three ninth inning from Joey Gerber ended any hope of a comeback for the Border Cats, who dropped the first game of the second half of their season.
Eight MoonDogs had hits, including three from Zac Wiley, and two apiece from Busch and Ortega. The two teams will square off again tomorrow at 7:05.
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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.
