St. Cloud Rox (MN) (21-11 Overall) vs. Mankato MoonDogs (MN) (14-20 Overall) Northwoods League Tuesday, August 11th -- 6:35 PM CT Franklin Rogers Park -- Mankato, MN Game #33 (Overall) - Road Game #17 Radio: 1390 AM St. Cloud Internet: 1390GraniteCitySports.com App: 1390 Granite City Sports Broadcaster: Evan Hughes Media Contact: [email protected] UPCOMING GAMES AND PITCHING PROBABLES Wednesday, August 12th WIL 7:05 PM St. Cloud TBA vs Willmar TBA 1390 AM St. Cloud/1390GraniteCitySports.com Thursday, August 13th @WIL 7:05 PM St. Cloud RHP Luke Albright vs Willmar TBA 1390 AM St. Cloud/1390GraniteCitySports.com Friday, August 14th OFF OFF OFF OFF Saturday, August 15th OFF OFF OFF OFF FIRST PLACE OPERATION IN ST. CLOUD: St. Cloud (21-11) won its fifth consecutive game and has won 11 of its last 12 games to take sole possesion 2020 Rox Overview Overall ....................................................... 21-11 of first place in the Minnesota/Iowa pod. The Rox beat the MoonDogs by a score Home ............................................................14-2 of 9-3, as St. Cloud took advantage of six errors. Kodie Kolden (Washington Road ................................................................ 7-9 State) led the team with 3 RBIs and Ben Norman (Iowa) also had an RBI-double. Place MN/IA Pod ............................................. 1 Landen Bourassa (San Francisco) earned his third win of the season after not al- Games Ahead ................................................0.5 lowing a hit in five innings pitched. Last 10 Games .............................................. 9-1 Last 5 Games ................................................ 5-0 BENNY “THE JET” NORMAN: During game two of Sunday’s double- Home Dates Remaining ........................... ....4 header, Ben Norman was on third base with two outs in the third inning. The Next Home Game.......................................8/12 speedy outfielder from Iowa got a great jump and successfully executed a straight steal from third base to home plate. He currently leads the team in sto- len bases and walks drawn. BACK-TO-BACK AWARDS: St. Cloud has secured two Northwoods League Pitcher of the Night honors over the last four days, doing it over con- secutive games. On Saturday, Zane Mills (Washington State) hurled seven innings and didn’t walk a batter. In game one of Sunday’s doubleheader at Willmar, RJ Martinez (Minot State) tossed seven innings and struck out eight batters. During Rox Upcoming Schedule the five-game winning streak, the pitching staff has combined to give up 12 runs 8/12 WIL 7:05 8/13 @WIL 7:05 over the last 39 innings. 8/14 OFF OFF 8/15 OFF OFF 8/16 MAN 4:05 HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE IS REAL: The Rox have been terrific at 8/17 MAN 7:05 8/18 @ROC 6:35 home in 2020. They haven’t lost since July 18th at the Rock Pile and have won 10 8/19 @ROC 6:35 consecutive games. The Rox went on a six-game winning streak during its longest 8/20 WIL 7:05 homestand of the season last week. St. Cloud is 14-2 at Joe Faber Field, but are just 7-9 when away from home. They return to Joe Faber Field on Wednesday, opening a two-game, home-and-home series. ROX VS MOONDOGS IN 2020: The Rox lead the season series against Mankato 5-1 and are 3-0 at home while 2-1 at Franklin Rogers Park. Following today’s series finale, St. Cloud will host Mankato on Sunday and Monday at the Rock Pile. MOONDOGS STARTER RHP AJ WOOD (1-1, 6.00 ERA): Wood makes his third start of the season. In 9 innings pitched, he has struck out eight Rox Social Media batters and issued just one walk.His longest start of the year came against Will- Twitter: @StCloudRox mar on August 5th, giving up three runs over four innings pitched. Wood has not Instagram: @StCloudRox thrown against St. Cloud this season. Facebook: @StCloudRox FOR UP-TO-DATE PLAYER AND TEAM NEWS, STATS, ETC VISIT: STCLOUDROX.COM TODAY’S ROX PITCHER 2 #22 Justin Kelly HT: 6-1 WT: 190 BATS/THROWS: R/R COLLEGE: Utah COUNTRY: United States RESIDENCE: West Jordan, Utah YEAR: RS-Sophomore 2020 Northwoods League Season Statistics CLUB W-L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO St. Cloud Rox 1-0 0.00 6 2 0 0 1 16.0 12 0 0 4 12 2020 Northwoods League Game-by-Game Statistics IN A NUTSHELL: DATE OPP DEC IP H R ER BB SO RESULT -Kelly has been one of the best pitchers in the Min- 7-3 @ROC -- 2.0 2 0 0 0 1 W, 13-2 *7-8 MAN -- 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 W, 7-0 nesota/Iowa pod, having not allowed a run *7-17 WAT SV 4.0 1 0 0 0 3 W, 6-2 -He made four starts on the mound this season for *7-23 @WIL -- 3.0 2 0 0 0 4 L, 6-0 8-1 WIL -- 4.0 5 0 0 4 2 W, 2-0 Utah *8-7 @ROC W 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 W, 2-0 -He finished with a 2.66 earned run average. In 23.2 *Indicates relief appearance innings pitched, he struck out 14 batters -Before Utah: At Copper Hills High School, Kelly earned All-Region and Honorable Mention All-State honors following his senior season. He was also a member of the Class 5A North All-Star Team ROX POSITION PLAYER NOTES 3 1 Jordan Barth 3B/1B 6-1, 200, Jr. Cold Spring, MN Augustana #22 Justin Kelly -Barth returns to the Rox for his second season. In 2019 he was selected to the postseason Northwoods League All-Star team and participated in the Major League Dreams Showcase -The 2019 Rox Most Valuable Player appeared in 71 regular season games while leading the team with a .323 batting average. Barth set single season Rox records in hits (99), doubles (25), extra base hits (32), total bases (144), runs scored (54) and games played (71). -In 13 games for Augustana this year, he led the team with a .471 batting average, 24 hits and six doubles during the 2020 season -Before Augustana: The Rocori High School graduate earned All-Conference, All-Area and All-State honors. He was selected for the Minnesota Baseball All-Star Series -Barth is a World Champion in racquetball and is currently ranked No. 43 in the country for men’s singles 27 Garett Delano OF/RHP 6-2, 205, Sr.. Callahan, FL Mercer Delano returns for his second season with the Rox after appearing in 62 regular season games in 2019 -He finished the 2019 Northwoods League season with a .320 batting average including 72 hits and a team-high eight home runs and 51 runs batted in (Rox single-season record) -Delano was named a midseason and postseason Northwoods League All-Star in 2019 -During the 2020 season at Brown University, Delano started all 12 games and scored nine runs -Delano announced in the spring that he will be transferring to Mercer University 44 Sam Ireland DH/1B/RF/RHP 6-3, 195, Fr. Highlands Ranch, CO Minnesota -Ireland appeared in 16 games for the the University of Minnesota in 2020 -He finished with a .303 batting average including four doubles. He scored three runs and had four runs batted in -On the mound, Ireland finished tied for the team-high in saves and struck out ten batters over eight innings pitched -Before Minnesota: Ireland was twice named the Class 5A High School Player of the Year in Colorado. Prep Baseball Report rated him the number three overall player in the state of Colorado during his senior season 12 Cody Kelly C/3B/OF 6-2, 190, HS-Sr. St. Michael, MN Minnesota -Kelly, a 2020 graduate of St. Michael-Albertville, has committed to the University of Minnesota for the upcoming school year -In 96 career high school games, he had a .466 batting average, 77 runs scored and 111 runs batted in -He was a two-time First Team All-State selection and the top ranked catcher in Minnesota by Prep Baseball Report -His brother Jack also plays for the Rox and Golden Gophers 16 Jack Kelly C/1B/OF 6-1, 180, Jr. St. Michael, MN Minnesota -Kelly returns to the Rox for his second season after appearing in 37 games in 2019. He collected 40 hits including seven doubles, a triple and three home runs. Kelly finished the 2019 Northwoods League season with a .303 batting average, 28 runs scored and 23 runs batted in. Kelly also participated in the Major League Dreams Showcase -He started all 18 games for the University of Minnesota during the 2020 season, scoring nine runs -His brother Cody also plays for the Rox. They will be teammates next season at the University of Minnesota -Before Minnesota: He spent two seasons at Northwestern University before transferring to Minnesota. The St. Michael-Albertville graduate was named all-conference, all- area, all-metro and all-state following his senior year. Kelly was ranked the number 1 catcher in Minnesota and number 29 catcher nationally by Prep Baseball Report 3 Kodie Kolden 2B/SS/3B 6-1, 190, So. Post Falls, ID Washington State -Kolden appeared in 13 games for Washington State this season -He had 11 hits, including a triple. Kolden drew seven walks and had six runs batted in. During his freshman season, he appeared in 42 games making 39 starts -Before Washington State: The Lake City High graduate was a two-time All-Inland Empire First Team selection and was named All-USA Idaho First Team during his senior season.