Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks manager Doug Simunic has been shuffling his lineup a lot early on in the season looking for the right combination to get his teams’ bats rolling. While he may not be done shuffling, clearly Chad Mozingo is proving that he is loving being the lead-off hitter for the club, and he proved he may belong in that spot permanently Friday night, with four hits, in a 10-4 victory over the Laredo Lemurs.

The Lemurs jumped out on top in this contest, scoring a run in each of the first two innings. In the top of the first inning Abel Nieves and Juan Silverio each drew walks with one out. Denis Phipps then singled to score Nieves and give Laredo the lead. In the top of the second Luke Bailey singled with one out against RedHawks starter Taylor Stanton. Byron Wiley followed by grounding to the Fargo-Moorhead first baseman, who misplayed the ball, allowing Bailey to score all the way from first.

Lemurs’ starter Greg Holle was dominant through the first five innings of the game. After giving up three singles in the first inning, he allowed only a hit to Mozingo in the third. In the sixth Fargo-Moorhead finally got on the board and it was Mozingo who led the charge, rapping a one out double and scoring two batters later on a double by Charlie Valerio.

Holle had pitched so well through the first six innings, but in the seventh it fell apart for him. Michael Antonio singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. A walk to Joe Staley put two runners on and a Drew Muren’s single loaded the bases. Zach Penprase grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Antonio to tie the game. It also put runners at the corners with two outs. That brought Mozingo up in another big situation, and he doubled into the gap scoring both runners and giving the RedHawks the 4-2 lead. A base hit by Frank Salerno plated Mozingo, and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks had turned a one-run deficit into a three-run lead.

In the eighth the Redhawks extended their lead to eight. Dan Minor came into relieve and he did not fare well at all. Stefan Gartrell singled to lead off the inning and moved to second base two batters later when Brent Peterson walked. Joe Staley was hit by a pitch to load the bases, bring Muren to the plate. He reached on an error that was credited as a sacrifice fly, keeping the bases loaded. Penprase then drilled a Minor offering into the gap in left-center field, plating all three runners.  Penprase raced all the way to third with a triple. He would score on a Salerno single to make it 10-2 RedHawks.

Laredo had been the first to score on this night, and they would also be the last. Wiley singled to lead off the ninth inning, and Mariel Checo walked Jimmy Mojica and Nieves to load the bases. Silverio followed with a double to score Wiley and Mojica, and it was 10-4. That was all the Laredo Lemurs would get on this night.

Michael Noteware (1-1) earned the win, evening his record. Holle (0-3) remained winless, despite pitching well in this game and having an ERA of just 3.09.

Mozingo had 4 hits in 5 rips to the plate. He also scored two runs and drove in two others. The top four hitters in the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks lineup were 10-19 with 3 runs scored and 5 RBI.

Boxscore Provided by the American Association

By Robert Pannier