Former Border Cats pitcher Blaine Hardy is attempting to work his way back to the big leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers. The 34-year old lefthander signed a minor league contract with the Brewers and has appeared in four Cactus League games this spring, allowing one run over four innings of work with three strikeouts for a 2.25 ERA. Hardy signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Twins prior to the 2020 season, but he suffered a left elbow injury during spring training, which required Tommy John surgery. The native of Seattle, Wash., who pitched on the Border Cats 2008 NWL Championship team, was drafted that same summer by the Kansas City Royals in the 22nd round of the MLB Draft. Hardy would later move on to the Detroit Tigers organization and made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2014. He appeared in 233 games with Detroit and has a career record of 14-10 with one save, 32 holds and a 3.73 earned run average.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 245 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (MIL). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.