A day after seeing their six-game winning streak come to an end, the Mankato MoonDogs got back to their winning ways, defeating the Willmar Stingers 11-5.
Just like the fans at Franklin Rogers Park have seen many times before, the MoonDogs jumped out to an early lead. Zac Wiley put the home team on top right away with a three-run home run. RBI singles from Ryan Kreidler and Jake Ortega gave the MoonDogs a 5-0 lead as the first inning came to an end.
After taking a break from scoring in the second inning, the MoonDogs got back to work in the third, adding three more runs and stretching their lead to 8-0. Daniel Amaral drove in two runs as he turned what many thought would be a double into his third triple of the season. He didn’t spend much time on the basepaths, however, as UCLA teammate Kyle Cuellar immediately singled him home.
Nobody enjoyed the MoonDogs’ sizable lead more than starter Ricky Digrugilliers, who blanked the Stingers for the first four innings. The visiting team finally broke through in the fifth inning, scoring three runs on two doubles from Marcus Still and Luke Becker. But Digrugilliers retired the next two batters to stop the bleeding and maintain an 8-3 lead.
The MoonDogs added to their lead in the fifth and sixth innings, but did so without a hit. Back to back errors in the fifth allowed Alvaro Rubalcaba to score, while a Jake Shepski sacrifice fly gave the MoonDogs a 10-3 lead.
A Josh Bissonette double in the top of the seventh inning cut the MoonDogs’ lead to 10-5, but Digrugilliers was able to put out the fire once again, exiting the game with a line of seven innings pitched, five earned runs, four strikeouts and one walk.
After a second Shepski sacrifice fly gave the MoonDogs an 11-5 lead, relievers Matt Young and Joey Gerber slammed the door shut on the Stingers, facing four batters each, and clinching a win for the MoonDogs.
Every single MoonDogs batter had a hit, with Wiley and Kenton Crews each adding a second. Wiley drove in three runs, while Amaral and Shepski drove in two apiece. With the win, the MoonDogs improve to 2-1 in the second half, and will face the Stingers again tomorrow night, this time in Willmar.
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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.
