St. Cloud, MN — On a cool, calm night in the Granite City, the North Division leading Rox (22-11) had a lot on the line, where the setting may not have been equivalent to what was at stake. With just 3 games left in the 1st half of the regular season, and a playoff spot on the line St. Cloud is still neck and neck with Waterloo.

With the game tied at 2 in the 7th, the Rox came up with big, clutch plays that resulted in their 4th straight win. Shane Selman (McNeese State) reached base safely to start the inning after one of three errors tonight from Duluth. He would later take 3rd, and with one out Angelo Altavilla (Nebraska) put a ball up the middle into Centerfield to give the Rox what turned out to be their game-winning hit Saturday night.

Selman scored in the 7th, and STC added an insurance run in the 8th to give closer Brent Killam (Georgetown) some margin for error. It didn't matter. Killam quickly dispatched the Huskies order in the 9th to earn his team-high 5th save this season. He also ranks 5th in the Northwoods League in that category.

He picked it up after an incredible defensive play made in foul territory in Leftfield by Keaton Kringlen (BYU). Kringlen, who also tallied multiple hits, slid past the chalk and made arguably the biggest –and best– catch this season. 

All those plays put together led St. Cloud to another win where they received big contributions from many players. Selman hit his 3rd home run of the year in the 2nd inning to open the scoring, and in the 4th Daniel Schneemann (BYU) drove in Cameron Eden (Cal) on an RBI single.

Duluth tied the game in the 6th inning, but St. Cloud didn't hang their heads and bounced back. Once again you can look to the pitching for the reason why Husky hitters struggled to drive in runs tonight.

Kenny Saenz started strong, pitching 6 innings and striking out 6. Bobby Gauvreau (2-0) (Minnesota State-Mankato) picked up the win after he got through the 7th, and John Matthews (Kent State) set up Killam for the save.

The Rox bullpen was stellar again tonight. They allowed just 4 hits over the final 3 innings to win the 1st of four straight games against the Huskies. They hit the road for the next four games, traveling to Duluth to wrap up the 1st half of the season and then go to Rochester. We return home on Thursday in a home game versus the Honkers. There will be a Rox replica jersey giveaway presented by Coborn's, Times Media and 104.7 KCLD to the 1st 400 kids 14 and under in attendance.

Tonight's Box Score.

Northwoods League Standings.

Tonight's St. Cloud Times Player of the Game is Angelo Altavilla, who gave St. Cloud the game-winning hit in the 7th inning to keep the Rox on top of 1st place in the North.

The St. Cloud Rox 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.stcloudrox.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rox as your favorite team.