(Written By: Cody Shook, Broadcaster)
BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Larks come up empty handed in a 7-4 ballgame against the Rochester Honkers at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark. The Larks fall to 9-5 on the season and are now in a tie for first place in the Northwoods League standings with the Duluth Huskies.
Coming into the series these teams were tied for first place. “We battled hard against a good team and we got the best of them in game one and they got the best of us in game two,” said Larks Head Coach, Sean Repay.
The Honkers got started early in the first inning when Alex Baeza hit a one out single into centerfield. He would later score on a sacrifice fly to make it a 1-0 ballgame. The Larks would battle back in the bottom of the first inning when Kyle Stevens drove in Cristian Montes on a double that one hopped the left field wall.
Cruz Daddario settled in on the mound, throwing three scoreless innings. The fifth inning the Honkers added three runs to make it a 4-1 lead through five innings. The Larks were able to get things going with two outs in the bottom of the 6th inning when Brandon Barna hit a double down the left field line and later scored on an error committed by the Honkers.
Bismarck would score again in the 7th inning when Montes drove in Matt Warkentin on a single into right field to close the gap and make it a 4-3 ballgame.
Rochester capitalized on a mistake in the 8th inning and added three runs to increase their lead and go up 7-3. The Larks late rally in the 9th came up short after pushing one run across. Repay said that the Larks didn’t play their best baseball tonight, but they were within one swing of the bat late in the game and that says a lot about this year’s Larks team.
The Larks fall to 9-5 on the season but remain in first place in the Northwoods League standings. The Larks will be back in action tomorrow night against the St. Cloud Rox with scheduled first pitch at 7:05pm.
###
The Bismarck Larks are a proud affiliate of the Northwoods League, the proven leader in development of elite college baseball players. The Larks mission is to use FUN to make a difference in the lives of our families, businesses, players, and communities we serve. This is accomplished with a commitment to putting fans first and providing high quality family entertainment at affordable prices. In 2017, the Larks sold out 27 of their 36 home games in Bismarck Municipal Ballpark, home of Dakota Community Bank and Trust Field, and were named the Northwoods League’s Organization of the Year.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 190 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
