St. Cloud Rox Clinch First-Half Championship

In the final game of the first half of the Northwoods League season, the Saint Cloud Rox (24-8) clobbered the Huskies (11-21) with a 12-2 win in Duluth and clinched the first-half title in the Great Plains West Division.

The Rox entered Saturday’s game with a magic number of one, needing just one win or a Mankato loss to lock up a playoff spot. Saint Cloud did its job and locked up the division ahead of a two-day break to end the first half.

The Rox had one big inning that put them complete control of the game early. In their biggest inning of the season, the Rox tallied nine runs in the third, while sending 13 batters to the plate and took an early 11-0 lead.

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Jordan Barth (Augustana) led the way for St. Cloud with three hits, including two doubles on the day. Barth brought in two runs in the third inning and ended up scoring three runs for the Rox in his most explosive outing of the season.

The Rox scoring got started in the first inning as Bobby Goodloe (TCU) continued his hot streak at the plate., singling to center to bring in two runs in the first frame.

Justin Kirby (Kent State) also had three hits and reached base in all six of his plate appearances on the day. Kirby singled three times and also reached first on a walk three times on Saturday.

Hunter Dollander (Georgia-Gwinnett) threw a gem for his third straight start, allowing only one run in six innings on the mound. Dollander retired the first eleven batters he faced to keep the Rox in control early in the game.

Connor Barison (Washington State) came out and finished the game off in the ninth. Barison retired the side in order to officially clinch the division for the Rox.

For a full box score from Saturday’s game, click here.

The Saint Cloud Rox will have a spot in the Northwoods League postseason which starts on August 15th. The Rox are back in action on Tuesday at Joe Faber Field at 7:05 when they open the second half against the Bismarck Larks.