Blue Anchors Fall to MoonDogs 10-7

June 15, 2013 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Alexandria Blue Anchors News Release


Friday night, the Alexandria Blue Anchors were unable to complete a come-back effort against the Mankato MoonDogs as they fell 10-6 at Franklin Rogers Park. The loss drops the Anchors record to 3-12 and the two-game series wraps up Saturday night.

Alexandria grabbed an early first-inning lead when Georgie Salem reached on an error by Mankato first baseman Tim Lynch. Salem stole second base and advanced to third when Andrew Sohn grounded out to the pitcher. With the infield in, Aaron Gretz grounded out to second and with two outs, Albert Bauer singled to centerfield to bring Salem home and give the Blue Anchors a 1-0 lead.

The lead didn't last long as the MoonDogs responded in the bottom of the first. After Blue Anchors starter Colin Wendinger got the first batter out, Krysthian Leal walked and he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Chase Simpson and Zach Zehner both walked to load the bases and Leal came around to score when Tim Lynch grounded out to second base to tie the score at one. As Hibraim Cordova drew a walk, a wild pitch from Wendinger brought home Simpson to give the MoonDogs a 2-1 lead. Cordova stole second base and Jonathan Rodriguez brought home Zehner and Cordova home with a double and extend the lead to 4-1. Mankato's lead was extended to four after Ryan Rostehnhausler singled to centerfield scoring Rodriguez. After a base hit from Matt Wollenzin, the inning ended with the MoonDogs leading 5-1.

In the bottom of the second, Mankato added to their lead. Ross Slaney came in relief of Wendinger and retired the first two batters of the inning on fly outs to right field. After five consecutive walks by Slaney, the MoonDogs lead 7-1 and Corey Fitzgerald entered in relief.

The Blue Anchors cut the lead to one in the top of the fourth. With one out, Ryan Blanchard singled and Tim Cusick followed with a single of his own. Designated hitter Austin Listi singled to right field and an error by right fielder Jake Ellison brought Blanchard and Cusick home and Listi to third to cut the deficit to 7-3. With two outs, Aaron Overbeck walked to put runners on the corners and Salem delivered an RBI single to score Cusick and move Overbeck to second. Sohn continued his hot hitting by singling to right field to score Overbeck and the score was 7-5, ending MoonDogs starting pitcher Ryan Quick's night. Donovan Feenstra took the mound for Mankato and threw a wild pitch to score Salem and the Blue Anchors trailed 7-6.

After Fitzgerald threw 5.1 scoreless innings of relief, the MoonDogs increased their lead in the bottom of the eighth against new pitcher Taylor Simpson. The first two batters were out quickly but Cordova started the scoring after being hit by a pitch. Three consecutive walks to Rodriguez, Rosthenhausler and Matt Wollenzin extended Mankato's lead to 8-6. Timothy Arakawa singled to right field scoring Rodriguez and Rosthenhausler and after eight innings the Blue Anchors trailed 10-6.

The rain started falling in the top of the ninth and Alexandria put together one last rally. Jess Amedee took the mound in relief and loaded the bases with no outs after Overbeck walked, Salem doubled and Sohn drew a walk. Gretz and Baur both struck out swinging but Blanchard was able to bring home Overbeck with a walk which brought Cusick to the plate as the go-ahead run. Cusick ended the game with a ground ball to second base, giving Mankato the 10-7 victory.

Wendinger (0-1) took the loss in Friday's game going just one inning and surrendering five runs on three hits and four walks. In two-thirds of an inning, Slaney allowed two earned runs on five walks. Fitzgerald was the bright spot on the mound as he didn't allow a run in 5.1 innings while allowing just two hits and four walks with two punch outs. In one inning of work, Simpson allowed three runs on a hit and three free passes.

Minnesota Baseball Academy Player of the Game - Corey Fitzgerald - The Richfield, Minnesota native and St. Cloud State pitcher had his best outing so far in the 2013 season. It is the longest relief outing for the Blue Anchors this season and it was his first scoreless outing of the year.

Notes: Albert Baur now has a six-game hit streak and leads the team with a .387 average...He also leads the squad with 12 RBI after one Friday night...Georgie Salem has had a hit in every game for Alexandria since joining the team...Tim Cusick now has a hit in seven straight games...The Blue Anchors have outhit their opponents 26-17 in the past two games...The two-game set wraps up Saturday night at Franklin Rogers Park starting at 6:05 p.m...Chase Rihtarchik (1-0) takes the mound for Alexandria and the game can be seen live at www.youtube.com/user/NorthwoodsLeague.



Northwoods League Stories from June 15, 2013


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