It’s rarely happened this season, but Mankato MoonDogs‚ manager Jason Nell had to spend some extra time talking to his club following Thursday’s 6-1 Northwoods League loss to Thunder Bay at Franklin Rogers Park.

“To be honest with you, I just thought we went through the motions tonight,” Nell said. “These guys have worked hard all year, but all it takes in one or two guys not giving 100 percent and it’s going to spread.

“I know it was a long day with all the rain, but we just didn’t play our game tonight. I can handle physical mistakes, but I can’t handle mental mistakes. A mental mistake in not preparing yourself, and that will lead to not giving 100 percent.”

Derek Willey belted a monstrous two-run homer and ripped an RBI single, as the Border Cats improved to 25-19 overall and 6-4 in the second half in front of the crowd of 1,176.

No. 9 hitter Connor Lind collected two hits, including a second-inning RBI single that put the Cats in front 2-0.

“They had some timely hitting, and that bunt in the second inning really hurt us,” MoonDogs catcher Kyle Knudson said. “I called for him to throw it to second base instead of getting the out at first and that kind of fueled that inning.”

Knudson, a University of Minnesota player, was the offensive standout for the MoonDogs with three hits and the lone RBI. Mankato (26-18, 6-4 in second half) managed just four hits off four Thunder Bay pitchers. Mike Lobacz laced a fourth-inning double into the right-center field gap and scored on Knudson’s bouncer up the middle.

“I changed my two-strike approach over the (All-Star) break,” Knudson said. “I was working with my old high school coach, and I widened out a little bit. I’ve been striking out too much, so I had to change something. ... They were all two strike hits tonight.”

Mankato starter Ryan Demmin had his most impressive outing of the year, allowing just four runs on four hits over 61⁄3 innings. He struck out four and walked four in throwing 95 pitches.

“He hit his spots and had all three pitches going for strikes,” Knudson said. “He just competed out there and that’s what we need from him.”

Jake Schmidt pitched hitless ball for two innings to pick up the victory for the Border Cats.

Mankato plays today at Rochester, before beginning a five-game home stand Saturday with a 7:05 p.m. game against the Honkers.