August 9, 2016
Rochester, MN – The Rox escaped a hard fought battle and edged the Honkers, 2-1, on Monday night at Mayo Field. Ricky Ramirez (McNeese State) hit a hard groundball to Rochester’s second baseman Kyle Kasser who bobbled the ball slightly, which allowed Denis Karas (California) to sneak in ahead of the tag at home plate. This proved to be the winning run in the top of the 9th inning.
St. Cloud still has the best overall record in the North Division with 44 wins to just 22 losses. The Rox remain only one game back of Mankato for first place in the second half of the division. There are 5 games left in the regular season. If the Rox end up winning the second half in the division, the team would host a first round playoff game on August 15th. As of now, the Rox are at least guaranteed to play on that date with their seeding still undetermined.
Both teams went punch for punch on Monday. St. Cloud’s pitching was solid in the 2-1 victory and it started with RHP Robbie Palkert (Nebraska). The righty made his second start of the season (16th appearance) as he logged 6 innings, 1 run, and just 3 hits. This paved the way for reliever Chris Martin (Kent State). Martin threw two shutout innings and this included the bottom of the 7th inning when he struck out the final two batters to leave two runners stranded on base. Brian Glowicki closed the curtains in the 9th on the mound and earned his 10th save of the season.
The Rox had a difficult time on offense against the Honkers. St. Cloud’s best opportunity came in the first inning when Luke Ringhofer (South Dakota State) and Ricky Ramirez both singled. The squad ultimately stranded the bases loaded.
Ramirez was a huge key to victory in the 7th inning. The Rox first baseman smoked a line drive off of Rochester’s pitcher and the ball snuck into center field. This scored Mark Skonieczny (Illinois) and at the time tied the game, 1-1.
St. Cloud has an off day Tuesday with the exception of 6 players. LHP Logan Salow, LHP Aaron Rozek, RHP Shelby Lackey, C Luke Ringhofer, 1B/OF Ricky Ramirez, and INF Denis Karas will all participate in the MLB Dreams Showcase at Warner Park in Madison, WI.
The Rox return to action Wednesday against the Rochester Honkers at Mayo Field. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. CT and the Rox Solid Pregame Warmup can be heard at 6:35 p.m. on 1390 AM The Fan. LHP Dan Metzdorf (Boston College) starts for St. Cloud.
The final two regular season home games for the Rox are Thursday and Friday of this week (August 11th & 12th). On Thursday, The Rox will celebrate Turn Back the Clock Night presented by Capital One by honoring the former minor league team with special throwback jerseys, and giving away Throwback Prints for the first 400 fans. On Friday, it will be fan appreciation night for the final regular season home game! Both of these games start at 7:05 p.m
Single game tickets can be purchased 24 hours a day at www.stcloudrox.com, by calling (320) 240-9798 or by visiting the Rox ticket office located at the Municipal Athletic Complex.
The St. Cloud Times Player(s) of the Game is Ricky Ramirez (McNeese State) who was on base three times and had two singles.
BOX SCORE – http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=317211
The St. Cloud Rox 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 Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com
