WILLMAR — Mankato got the jump on Willmar with a pair of three-run innings. Then when Willmar made a run in the eighth inning, the MoonDogs shut down the host Stingers en route to a 7-2 Northwoods League win on Tuesday at Bill Taunton Stadium.
Both teams scored a run in the opening inning as Mankato got an RBI double from Sean Ross and Willmar followed with a Tyler Bosetti RBI single that brought home Daniel Walsh.
The top of the fourth saw the MoonDogs take the lead after Jake Moberg hit a two-run double before scoring on an error. Then in the fifth, the longball showed up for Mankato as Adan Fernandez hit a solo home run while Tanner Craig followed with a two-run dinger.
Held to just two hits between the second and seventh innings, the Stingers got back on the board with a two-out RBI double from Branden Boissiere that brought home Riley Johnson. Brennan McKenzie and Tyler Bosetti each took walks to load the bases for pinch hitter Justin King. However, Mankato relief pitcher Thomas Bruss got out of the game with a strikeout.
Johnson went 3-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases, finishing as the only player on either team with multiple hits.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mankato’s Shane Barringer got the win after striking out five over six innings of work. Garret Rukes was hit with the loss in a five-inning effort.
Willmar has the day off Wednesday and will return home Thursday against La Crosse.
Mankato 7, Willmar 2
Mankato 100 330 000-7 7 0
Willmar 100 000 010-2 6 3
Hitting - Mankato: Michael Perez 1-5 2b r, Sean Ross 2b 1-5 rbi, Dayton Dooney 1-4 r-2, Tanner Craig 1-4 hr r rbi-2, Garrett Gilbert 1-3 r, Jake Moberg 1-4 2b r rbi-2, Adan Fernandez 1-3 hr r rbi … Willmar: Riley Johnson 3-4 r sb-2, Branden Boissiere 1-4 2b rbi, Tyler Bosetti 1-3 rbi, James Gamble 1-4 3b, Daniel Walsh 0-4 r 2b
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Mankato: Shane Barringer (W) 6-4-1-1-1-5, Dalton Grose 1-0-0-0-0-1, Thomas Bruss 1-2-1-1-2-3, Jack Pilcher 1-0-0-0-0-1 … Willmar: Garret Rukes 5-7-7-4-1-6 (L), Joel Cheatwood 3-0-0-0-1-4, Casey Dykstra 1-0-0-0-0-2
VFW Baseball
District 6 Playoffs
SC Blue 7,
Willmar 1
The Willmar VFW Post 1639’s season came to an end with a loss to St. Cloud Blue in the District 6 playoffs on Tuesday at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud.
Blue’s Andrew Rott went the distance, allowing just an unearned run on two hits while striking out six. Blue’s Caleb Leintz had three hits and drove in two runs.
Willmar’s Jett Salonek singled in Hunter Magnuson with the team’s lone run in the sixth inning. Ian Koosman had Post 1639’s other hit.
SC B lue 104 002 0-7 8 1
Willmar 000 001 0-1 2 2
Hitting - St. Cloud Blue: Caleb Leintz 3-4 rbi-2, Andrew Rott 1-4 2b rbi r … Willmar: Hunter Magnuson 0-3 r, Jett Salonek 1-3 rbi, Ian Koosman 1-2
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - St. Cloud Blue: Andrew Rott (W) 7-2-1-0-2-6 … Willmar: Dalton Ogdahl (L) 3.2-4-5-3-3-5, Sam Etterman 2.1-4-2-2-0-2
Legion Baseball
BOLD 3, Paynesville 2
Opening a best-of-three playoff series on Tuesday, BOLD scored runs in the second, third and fourth innings to edge out Paynesville for a 3-2 victory in Bird Island.
ADVERTISEMENT
Andrew Sheehan scored what would be the game-winning run after coming home when Jordan Sagedahl was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. James Woelfel and Braeden Tersteeg also had RBIs for the Mudhens.
Getting the win was Matt Moorse, who struck out one with no walks in a complete-game effort.
Levi Bast led Paynesville’s offense, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Carter Wessel and Ryan Messer also had hits in the loss.
Game 2 is set for 6 p.m. Thursday in Paynesville. If Post 271 wins, Game 3 will follow immediately afterwards.
Paynesville 001 010 000-2 4 0
BOLD 011 100 000-3 5 2
Hitting - Paynesville: Levi Bast 2-3 rbi-2, Carter Wessel 1-3, Ryan Messer 1-3 … BOLD: Luke Ryan 1-4, James Woelfel 1-3 rbi, Andrew Sheehan 1-3, Kyle Kostorhyz 1-2, John Burman 1-2, Braeden Tersteeg 0-3 rbi, Jordan Sagedahl 0-1 rbi
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Paynesville: Grady Fuchs (L) 4-4-3-3-4-2, Caden Spanier 2-1-0-0-0-1 … BOLD: Matt Moorse (W) 7-4-2-1-0-1
