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            Josh Mazzola was acquired this offseason to help bolster the Fargo-Moorhead bats, and he definitely showed he was worth the investment in a 3-2 win over the Goldeyes, whom he played the four previous years for. In the bottom of the ninth with one out and the bases loaded in a 2-2 game, Mazzola ripped a line-drive to left field, scoring Chad Mozingo.

            Despite the fantastic finish, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the ‘Hawks on offense. The team only managed one run other than the bottom of the ninth comeback and they left twelve on base. That came in the fourth inning when Mazzola doubled, and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Luke Bailey. At least defensively Fargo-Moorhead was outstanding, committing no errors, making two double-plays, and shortstop Bryan Johns made some spectacular plays.

            For Winnipeg, they were off to a solid start thanks in big part to the pitching of Mikey O’Brien. The right-hander threw 6.1 innings and only allowed one run and six hits. Taylor Stanton was just as good starting for the ‘Hawks too, going 7.2 innings and allowing two runs. Those two runs came in the second and fifth innings. Jacob Rodgers knocked a double and Adam Heisler ripped a triple, then they scored on singles by Casio Grider and Maikol Gonzalez.

            Crunch time came in the bottom of the ninth. Kes Carter kicked it off with a leadoff single, then Chad Mozingo took the first pitch he saw and turned it into another single. Ryan Pineda blasted a double to the left field fence to tie the game up. The Goldeyes responded by intentionally walking the dangerous Keury De La Cruz to load the bases. With Mazzola up, he fell behind in the count 0-2 early, then on the 2-2 pitch, once the ball came off the bat everyone in the stadium knew the game was over.

            Dan Sattler (2-0) took the win for the 12-8 RedHawks, and Jailen Peguero (2-2) was handed the loss for the 11-10 Goldeyes. Game two of the critical Northern Division series battle will be Friday at 7:02 p.m. at Newman Outdoor Field.