\n\t \n<\/p>\n
\n\tWorld Baseball Classic Continues with Northwoods League Alumni<\/u><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tFive former NWL players are still vying for a championship<\/em>\n<\/p>\n \n\tRochester, Minn. – As Spring Training continues in Florida and Arizona, five former Northwoods League players and their teams have progressed to the Championship Round of the World Baseball Classic in Los Angeles.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn the first semi-final game tonight at 8:00 p.m. CST, the Netherlands will take on Puerto Rico. On the Puerto Rico staff is former Brainerd Blue Thunder pitcher Hiram Burgos. Burgos spent the 2006 season in Brainerd and is currently in the Brewers organization. During the WBC, Burgos has pitched five innings and allowed two runs while striking out two.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn the second semi-final game on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. CST, Japan will take on the United States. The USA roster boasts four former NWL players. Former Mankato MoonDogs shortstop and current San Francisco Giant Brandon Crawford is currently hitting .444 over six games. To go along with that impressive average, Crawford has also driven in four runs on eight hits. Three of those hits have come on doubles and one on a triple.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOn the mound the USA staff has two former Northwoods League pitchers that have yet to yield a run in the tournament. Former Wisconsin Woodchuck and current Philadelphia Phillie Pat Neshek is 1-0 with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched while former Duluth Huskie Drew Smyly, of the Seattle Mariners, struck out eight batters in 4.2 innings of work in his one start before returning to the Mariners. Another former Huskie and current Giants closer Mark Melancon has been added to the roster for the finals.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOther participants in the first and second round games included these former NWL alumni listed with their current MLB organization.\n<\/p>\n \n\tDan Burawa (Atlanta Braves – Madison ’09)\n<\/p>\n \n\tBrad Goldberg (Chicago White Sox – Eau Claire ’10-’11)\n<\/p>\n \n\tJoey Wagman (Oakland Athletics – Wisconsin Rapids ’11)\n<\/p>\n \n\tNick Rickles (Washington Nationals – Duluth ’09)\n<\/p>\n \n\tZach Borenstein (Arizona Diamondbacks – Mankato ’11)<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tRichard Bleier (Baltimore Orioles – Alexandria ’07)\n<\/p>\n \n\tCody Decker (Milwaukee Brewers – Duluth\/Mankato ’06-’07)<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tNeil Wagner (Mankato ’04-’05)<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tRowan Wick (St. Louis Cardinals – La Crosse ’11)\n<\/p>\n \n\tMike Reeves (Toronto Blue Jays – La Crosse ’10-’11)\n<\/p>\n \n\tFrank DeJiulio (Duluth ’10)\n<\/p>\n \n\tPat Venditte (Philadelphia Phillies – Wisconsin ’07)\n<\/p>\n \n\tDaniel Descalso (Arizona Diamondbacks – Wisconsin ’06)\n<\/p>\n \n\tJake Smith (San Diego Padres – St. Cloud ’11)\n<\/p>\n \n\tXorge Carrillo (New York Mets – Mankato ’09)<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\tEfren Navarro (Detroit Tigers – Rochester ’05-’07)\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\tThe World Baseball Classic is the premier international baseball tournament, sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and operated as a joint venture between Major League Baseball and its Players Association. The Tournament features the best players in the world competing for their home countries and territories.\n<\/p>\n \n\tFollowing a qualifying round held in February, March and September of 2016, the 16-team field took part in first and second round games from March 6-19, 2017. The games spanned the globe, taking place across six venues, beginning with Seoul, Tokyo, Miami and Jalisco in the First Round. During the Second Round, teams headed to Tokyo and San Diego on the way to the Championship Round in Los Angeles.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t##\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe 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 160 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<\/a> or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n \n\t###\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the<\/em> Northwoods League portal<\/em><\/a>. For more information, visitwww.mankatomoondogs.com<\/a><\/em> or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" World Baseball Classic Continues with Northwoods League Alumni Five former NWL players are still vying for a championship Rochester, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,27,1,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-categories","category-announcements","category-archives","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\tTeam Israel (7)<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n\n\tTeam Columbia (1)<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n\n\tTeam Canada (2)<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n\n\tTeam Italy (3)<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n\n\tTeam Mexico<\/strong> (3)<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n