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Published On: March 28th, 2016

St. Paul Saints will play Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Bill Taunton Stadium on May 8th

 Willmar, Minn. – The Willmar Stingers and Marthaler Chevrolet of Glenwood are excited to announce that the St. Paul Saints and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are going to play a pre-season game at 2:05 p.m. on Sunday, May 8th at Bill Taunton Stadium in Willmar. This game marks the first professional baseball game played in Willmar according to the Kandiyohi County Historical Society records. Both the Stingers along with game-partner Marthaler Chevrolet are excited to bring these two long-standing organizations to Willmar.

“We are very excited to bring these two great organizations to Willmar, allowing fans an opportunity to be a part of history catching an early Saints, RedHawks game right here in our backyard,” co-owner Ryan Voz said. 
 
Both organizations first began in playing in the Northern League, and now are a part of the professional independent league called the American Association. The American Association was founded in 2005 and currently operates in the states of Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and the providence of Manitoba.
 
The St. Paul Saints began play in 1993 in the Northern League and played their home games at Midway Stadium, located roughly “midway” between the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, just west of Snelling Avenue in St. Paul. In 2015, the Saints opened CHS Field in downtown St. Paul and drew a league-best attendance with an average of 8,091 people a night in their 50 home games.
 
Owned by the Goldklang Group, which has Mike Veeck and Bill Murray as part of the ownership group, the Saints are on the leading frontier of fun and excitement at their ballgames. The Saints are renowned for the creative and innovative ways to create a one-of-a-kind atmosphere for their fans. For example, the team set a Guinness World Record for the largest pillow fight ever. Over 6,200 fans began to “fight” during the second inning of a game last season.
 
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are coming off their 20th season of operation in which they finished the 2015 season on a hot streak, winning 21 of their final 30 games. Prior to joining the American Association, the RedHawks spent fifteen seasons in the Northern League, making 14 playoff appearances and winning five championships. The RedHawks set the modern Northern League single-season record for win percentage (.753) in 1998 and wins in a season with 68 in 2005. The RedHawks were named Baseball America's Independent Team of the Decade during the '90s.
 
Single-game tickets for the Saints vs. RedHawks game will go on sale Friday, April 8th at 10:00 am. Tickets can be purchased online at willmarstingers.com or by calling the Stingers office at 320-222-2010. For more information regarding this press release please contact the Willmar Stingers front office at 320-222-2010 or visit www.willmarstingers.com.
 
The 2016 Stingers season is presented by Marcus Construction. “From start to finish we’ll make your job easier and build a facility you will be proud of.”

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The Willmar Stingers 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 140 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.willmarstingers.com.