ST. CLOUD ROX vs. BADLANDS BIG STICKS

July 16 & 17

Dakota Community Bank & Trust Field (Dickinson, North Dakota)

 

Thursday, July 16 – 7:35 p.m. CT / 6:35 p.m. MT

Pitching: RHP Austin Haley (0-0, 0.00 ERA)  vs. TBA 

Watch: FloSports 

Listen: 93.9FM/1390 AM Granite City Sports Radio 

Friday, July 17 – 7:35 p.m. CT / 6:35 p.m. MT

Pitching: LHP Jacob Imoto (0-0, 6.35 ERA) vs. TBA 

Watch: FloSports 

Listen: 93.9FM/1390 AM Granite City Sports Radio 

 

Follow the Game  

• Follow along to every Northwoods League game on the NWL scoreboard, and get up to the minute information with the Play-by-Play feature.  

• All matchups, home and away, can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription.  

• Every game of the 2026 season can be heard on 93.9 FM and 1390 AM Granite City Sports Radio, and on the Granite City Sports website. Dylan Budd, Danny Berg, and Riley Klaus call every game from the Eide Chrysler St. Cloud Studios. 

 

St. Cloud vs. Badlands (SERIES HISTORY)

• This is the fourth series between the Rox and Big Sticks this year, with eight games already concluded.
• The Rox are ahead this year, with six wins to just two for Badlands.
• St. Cloud is 3-1 at DCB&T Field this season.
• After the pair, Dickinson will not see the Rox for the rest of the season. The Big Sticks come to Joe Faber Field for two games, starting August 1st.

Recounting Mankato & Minnesota

The Rox just wrapped up a two-game, home-and-home set against the Mankato Moondogs. Before the pair, St. Cloud defeated the Minnesota Mud Puppies 13-8. Tyler Phenow collected his third win, fanning six in as many innings. Tanner Recchio proved to be a catalyst once more, reaching on every plate appearance, scoring twice and swiping thrice.

Tuesday was a slog of a contest that took three hours and 48 minutes to complete in hot and muggy conditions, with St. Cloud picking up a 10-6 win. The Rox scored three runs in the first three innings, and Mankato countered with three of their own leading to a 3-3 tie after 3 frames. The MoonDogs got a run in the fifth and seventh, giving them a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Jaixen Frost picked up a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and Austin Haley tied the game with an RBI single in his first at-bat of the game. Mankato retook the lead in the 8th inning but the Rox countered with five in the bottom of the frame, spotlighted by Brett White giving St. Cloud the lead with a two-RBI triple and Jackson Legg added insurance with a two-RBI single. Legg finished the day with four RBIs, while he, White, and Colton Rother all had multi-hit games.

Wednesday was a complete opposite showing from Tuesday, with the MoonDogs winning 2-0 in a game that took two hours and 16 minutes to finish. Emerson McKnight was tabbed with the start and delivered 5.1 quality innings, finishing with nine strikeouts with just one walk and four hits. Brady Stuart followed him up in relief, going 2.2 scoreless frames with no hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. 

Haley Tabbed For Start

No stranger to the pitcher role during the spring, shortstop Austin Haley will showcase his two-way talents in his third pitching appearance in the Northwoods League. This time he will be a starter for the Rox when he pitches Thursday.

Haley made two starts for the Kansas State Wildcats this spring, both against Summit League opponents. He delivered five scoreless innings against South Dakota State in early March, allowing just two hits and striking out five on 62 pitches. In mid-April against Omaha, he went five innings and allowed three runs (two earned), giving up five hits with one strikeout on 73 pitches.

At Murray State College in 2025, Haley made 12 starts, pitching to a 4.50 ERA in 58 innings. He struck out 76 batters to just 24 walks, and held opponents to a .245 batting average.

Haley has pitched 2.1 scoreless innings across his time with the Rox spanning two seasons, allowing two hits and striking out five. His only appearance on the mound this year so far was on July 5 at Mankato, where he earned the save going 1.1 innings and striking out three.

Welcome Back Imoto

A previous starter for the Rox, lefty Jacob Imoto will make his first starting assignment since June 6 for St. Cloud on Friday.

Imoto has been a mid-to-high leverage reliever for the Rox in his last eight appearances, oftentimes being the only available left-handed reliever. Since moving to the bullpen, Imoto has delivered scoreless appearances in five of his eight outings. His best game came on June 25 against the MoonDogs, where he went two scoreless innings and struck out four.

Imoto’s last outing came on July 13, pitching an inning against the Mud Puppies and allowed two runs but struck out three. On the year, he has 11 outings with a 6.35 ERA in 17 innings, allowing just six hits and striking out 17.

OPS Ablaze

There are four Rox with an OPS rate over one when facing the Badlands Big Sticks:

• Jackson Akin (1.178): The Gopher has batted 3-9, with two runs batted in, a double, and a home run.
• Jaixen Frost (1.171): The Iceman’s on-base percentage is all the way to .600, with three hits and three free passes
• Austin Haley: Haley has been walked four times, and his one hit left the yard.
• Aidan Mouton: the Jayhawk commit has been an RBI machine all year; he has seven against Badlands.

Rox against the Northwoods League 

Entering Thursday’s games, the Rox stand alone at the top of the league with the most overall wins of any team at 31. The Wausau Woodchucks joined the 30-win club on July 15 with their 12-7 win over the Madison Mallards. Traverse City is the likely next team to 30 wins, entering the day at 29-18 overall. The Rox have the second best winning percentage (.660) in the league, trailing Wausau by 22 percentage points, albeit the Woodchucks playing three less games than the Rox.

Nearing 50 games into the 2026 season, the Rox continue to pace the NWL in a bevy of offensive categories: 

• 1st in stolen bases (206)
• 1st in on-base percentage (.423)
• 1st in hit by pitches (89)
• 2nd in walks (348)
• 2nd in sacrifice flies (31)
• 2nd in sacrifice hits (17)
• 3rd in runs (362)
• 4th in hits (414)
• 4th in batting average (.268)
• 5th in runs batted in (303)

Similarly, the Rox are at or near the top in many of the league’s pitching and defense categories as well.

• 1st in doubles (47)
• 1st in home runs allowed (16)
• 1st in opponent batting average (.235)
• T-2nd in fielding percentage (.968)
• 2nd in runs (236)
• 2nd in strikeouts (467)
• 3rd in hits (350)
• 4th in team ERA (4.56)
• 4th in team WHIP (1.48)
• 4th in errors (54)
• 5th in earned runs (210)

Rox to the Pros 

The 2026 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on July 11 and 12 for eligible high school and college prospects to enter the professional ranks. A total of seven former Rox players were drafted by one of the 30 MLB teams. 

• Tyson LeBlanc (Kansas): Round 2, Pick 61 to the Detroit Tigers 

• Kade Lewis (Wake Forest): Round 4, Pick 132 to the Cleveland Guardians 

• Brady Ballinger (Kansas): Round 7, Pick 216 to the Detroit Tigers 

• Marcus Kruzan (Minnesota): Round 12, Pick 371 to the Milwaukee Brewers 

• Dallis Moran (Stetson): Round 16, Pick 474 to the St. Louis Cardinals 

• Weber Neels (Minnesota): Round 19, Pick 566 to the Arizona Diamondbacks 

• J.P. Robertson (Mississippi): Round 20, Pick 598 to the San Francisco Giants 

Learn more about the draftees here.

Postseason Bound 

On June 24, the Rox officially clinched the Great Plains West first half championship following an 8-3 victory over the Badlands Big Sticks. The win moved St. Cloud to 21-10 at the time and was the first team in the Northwoods League to secure a playoff spot. The La Crosse Loggers (Plains East), Madison Mallards (Lakes East), and Kenosha Kingfish (Lakes West) secured the other first half titles. 

After cruising to a divisional championship, the Rox secured the top spot in the Great Plains on the final day of the first half. St. Cloud entered June 29 down 10 winning percentage points to La Crosse, and after a Rox 9-4 win over Bismarck and a 17-5 Loggers loss to Eau Claire, the Rox earned the top slot. 

2026 will mark the eighth straight summer that the Rox will be playing beyond the regular season. St. Cloud has gone 9-8 in playoff games since 2021. 

About Faber Field  

Joe Faber Field is located on the west side of St. Cloud in the city’s Municipal Athletic Complex. The complex features two of the finest baseball fields in the state – Dick Putz Field and Joe Faber Field. Additionally, the complex features Veterans Public Golf Course and two ice arenas, Torrey Arena and Ritsche Arena. The park opened in 1998 and has a capacity of 2,000 people.   

  

Attend a Rox Game 

Fans can visit stcloudrox.com and hover over the drop-down “Tickets” menu on the homepage. Fans can also call 320-240-9798 for ticket information, or can visit the ticket office inside the Municipal Athletic Complex’s ice arena lobby during regular business hours. 

 

Up Next  

The road trip continues for the Rox; they have two against the Minot Hot Tots in Watford City, ND, as part of the North Dakota State Fair, on Saturday and Sunday. Both games begin at 6:35 p.m. CT.

After the pair, the Rox will head back home and rest up during an off day before some Great Plains East foes; two against the La Crosse Loggers, and two against the Thunder Bay Border Cats.