From Staff Reports
MANKATO, Minn. — Georgia Southwestern pitcher Zach Whitman made his debut Monday night in the Northwoods League pitching 5.2 innings for the Mankato (Minn.) MoonDogs in a 3-2 loss to the Brainerd (Minn.) Lunkers.
Whitman allowed two earned runs on 11 hits with a strikeout and walk each.
Whitman, an All-Peach Belt Conference Second Team selection who just completed his junior season for the Hurricanes, will be facing some of the top collegiate players from across the country.
Rosters are peppered with NCAA Division I players from the Atlantic 10, Big Ten, Big Sky, West Coast, Atlantic Sun, Great West and Pac-10 conferences. Since the league began play in 1994, 53 NWL alumni have made it to the Major Leagues.
According to the league’s Web site, the NWL is a summer baseball league comprised of teams of the top college players from across the nation and North America. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. Players are not paid (this preserves their NCAA eligibility).
Each team is operated similar to a professional minor league team, providing players an opportunity to play under the same conditions using wooden bats, minor league specification baseballs, experiencing overnight road trips, and playing nightly before fans in a stadium.
The MoonDogs schedule consists of 68 games played between May 28 and August 10.
