(Rochester, Minn)– The Rochester Honkers defeated the Waterloo Bucks 7-2 Wednesday night at Mayo Field. It was the Honkers second win over the Bucks on the day after they took the first game of the split doubleheader 12-1 earlier in Waterloo. Matt Fielder (Minnesota) earned the win for the Honkers. Frank Rubio (Florida) was charged with the loss.
The win was Rochester’s third straight over the Bucks, and gave the Honkers a 4-2 lead in the standings for the Scheels Highway 63 Cup with two games left to be played.
Waterloo got one in in the second inning, but the Honkers tied it up without getting a hit, as Alex Schultz (Nebraska-Omaha) struck out swinging, but a passed ball allowed him to reach first and allowed Adam Walton (Illinois) to come in form third. Walton had reached base on a fielder’s choice, stole second and advanced to third on a Waterloo error.
The second Rochester run came in a more traditional manner, with Scott Schreiber (Nebraska) coming home on a RBI single from William Paschal (Georgia Gwinnett).
The lead would stretch to 4-1 as the Honkers scored for the third consecutive inning, as Mark Contreras (UC Riverside) would score on a single from Schreiber. Schreiber would advance to second on an error on that play, and score on a single from Cole Krzmarzick (Nevada).
Schreiber would score again, this time unearned on a groundout by Cole Krzmarzick (Nevada) in the seventh, for an insurance run that pushed the Honkers lead to 5-1.
In the eighth, a deep hit to right would score one run for Waterloo, but a quick 8-3-5 putout would catch the batter at third and get the Honkers out of the inning with a three run lead intact.
Contreras would send a dinger way over the 350 sign in right center in the bottom of the eighth, bringing in Schultz and padding a 7-2 victory for the Rochester side.
The Honkers further secured their position in the NWL playoffs with the win, holding a four game lead over the Mankato Moondogs for the fourth spot in the North Division at 34-28.
The Honkers next home game will be Thursday, July 30th, against the Eau Claire Express at 7:05 p.m. Gates will open at 6 p.m. It will be Altra Federal Credit Union Night and Scout Night at Mayo Field. It will also be a Home Run for Life Thursday sponsored by Novo Nordisk.
All of the Honkers games can be found live on Sports Radio AM 1520 The Ticket with Clinton Cole. You can also listen for free at www.rochesterhonkers.com by clicking on the Listen to Games Live link. Live video streams of the games are available via the Northwoods league Live Stream, powered by Stretch Internet. To access, just visit www.northwoodsleague.com and click on the Watch Games Live link at the bottom of the page.
The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com
