THUNDER BAY- Ontario. The MoonDogs scored three runs in each of the first two innings and defeated the Thunder Bay Border Cats 10-1 on Sunday afternoon at Port Arthur Stadium. Patience at the plate paid off and Thunder Bay pitchers issued 12 walks in the game. The victory was the MoonDogs’ was their fourth in a row as they went undefeated on their road swing through Duluth and Thunder Bay.
Daniel Amaral (UCLA), Jake Shepski (Notre Dame), and Kyle Cuellar (UCLA) all drew bases on balls to lead off the game. After a fly out to by Logan Busch, Ryan Kreidler (UCLA) gave the MoonDogs a lead after a drawing a base loaded walk. Ethan Valdez (Nicholls State) hit Shepski in on a fielder’s choice ground ball and Kyle Cuellar scored on an error by the Border Cats shortstop Andy Weber.
Mankato added three more runs in the second on just a pair of singles but two more walks were issued by relief pitcher Cody O’Brien (Minnesota State) of Thunder Bay. Then the MoonDogs added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, giving plenty of run support for starting pitcher Andy Fisher (Illinois). Fisher got the win for his 5.2 inning effort. He allowed 1 earned run on 6 hits, walking 4 and striking out 5. Jake Mielock took the loss, working just 1.0 innings and allowing 3 runs on 0 hits, walking 4 and striking out 0.
The win keeps the MoonDogs tied for first place second half north division standings at 15-7 (35-23 overall). Thunder Bay falls to 9-14 (22-36 overall). The MoonDogs return home for their next game Monday night against the Waterloo Bucks. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
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 180 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 website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
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