By: Connor Wachtel<\/p>\n
WILLMAR, Minn. \u2013<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0The Mankato MoonDogs (39-21) clinched their ninth Northwoods League playoff berth with an 8-3 victory over the Willmar Stingers (29-34), Saturday night at Bill Taunton Stadium.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/MoonDogsBall\/status\/1424223992181833731?s=20<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The MoonDogs offense surged on Saturday night, scoring a run in the fourth, four in the fifth and another pair in the seventh for a total of seven unanswered runs at The Beehive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mankato\u2019s big fourth inning was highlighted with RBI doubles hit by\u00a0Jack Costello<\/strong>\u00a0(San Diego) and\u00a0Will Hanafan<\/strong>\u00a0(Creighton). Costello added another RBI knock to his resume in the seventh before\u00a0Carson Yates<\/strong>\u00a0(UCLA) drove him in with an RBI single of his own. After seven innings, the MoonDogs led the Stingers by an unanswered score of 7-0.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Willmar rallied to score three runs in the eighth, but were put on hold by the MoonDogs prior to when first baseman\u00a0Alex Baeza<\/strong>\u00a0(Utah) hit his third home run of the summer to right in the ninth, the solo shot added late\u00a0insurance to the MoonDogs lead before it eventually stood in an 8-3 final.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The hits effort went the way of the MoonDogs, 12-5, while Mankato finished the night with one more error than the host Stingers, 2-1. The MoonDogs had 13 runners stranded in the ballgame, the Stingers left 10 aboard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n PLAYOFF BOUND | We won tonight's game, 8-3, over the Willmar Stingers. With the win, that knocked Willmar out of playoff contention, the #MoonDogs<\/a> have officially clinched their ninth @NWLbaseball<\/a> postseason appearance!#FliptheM<\/a> | #PushforDawgust<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/pgjOm4m20K<\/a><\/p>\n — Mankato MoonDogs (@MankatoMoonDogs) August 8, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n