The Bismarck Larks took the first game of the series against the Rochester Honkers with a 6-4 victory. Zack Gregory had himself a night at the plate en route to the player of the game as he was 4-for-4 with a triple, an RBI, a walk, and one run scored. Picking up the victory for Bismarck was Hunter Kloke in his first start for the Larks, while the bullpen finished things off in a big way.

What’s Next: The Bismarck Larks will again face off against the Rochester Honkers on June 11 at 9:30 am. That game will be the first of two as the Larks will play their one and only home double header this season. The evening game will be played at 7:05 pm. Tickets are still available for tomorrow’s night game. Claim your ticket to see the first place Bismarck Larks here: https://northwoodsleague.com/bismarck-larks/single-game-tickets/.

How It Happened: The Larks got on the board in the bottom of the first after Zack Gregory singled to start the inning. Cooper Bowman then hit a single in his first at-bat as a Lark, Bowman made his debut at shortstop, batting in the two hole for the Larks. With runners on first and second, Cole Taylor singled to right field, Bowman went first to third on the hit but Gregory stopped at third as Bowman headed back towards second, the Honkers then threw the ball to second base allowing Gregory to come around to score on the throwing error for the first run of the inning.

The Larks continued to put runs on the board in the second inning as Wyatt Ulrich led things off with an infield single before Alex Peterson singled to right field. Brian Leonhardt flew out to deep center field that moved Ulrich up to third before Zack Gregory hit an RBI single to right field to drive in Ulrich making it 2-0. Cooper Bowman then picked up his first RBI with a fielder’s choice ground out for the second run of the inning that scored Peterson from third. Cole Taylor then singled for the second time, Brody Tanksley walked to load the bases before the two Columbia Lions, Jack Chernow and AJ DiFillipo picked up RBI walks to make the score 5-0 through two innings.

The Larks added one more in the third, when Alex Peterson singled to lead off the inning then stole second and third to up his tally to three stolen bases on the night and seven on the season. Brian Leonhardt and Zack Gregory walked to load the bases before Cooper Bowman grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second consecutive at-bat which was his second RBI on the night in his Lark debut.

Hunter Kloke continued to do his thing on the mound as he threw four no-hit innings to start off the game before allowing two runs, one of which was earned in the fifth to finish his day of work while striking out four in the outing. After Kloke, Bradley Collins pitched two scoreless innings and allowed just two baserunners, one on a hit and the other on a walk while striking out two Honkers. In a 6-2 game, Evan Miller came in for the final two frames after giving up two earned runs in the eighth, he then settled down in the ninth and got a ground ball 6-3 double play to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.

Inside The Boxscore: Zack Gregory added 58 points to his batting average in the game, he is now batting .391 on the season which is now the best on the team. Gregory’s on-base percentage is now above .600 at .622 which is still good for the best in the Northwoods League. Gregory also picked up another walk for his 20th of the season which is at the top of the league as well. Wyatt Ulrich picked up his 21st run scored on the season which is the most in the league by three, Gregory is tied for second in that category with 18. Alex Peterson stole three bases in a game for the second time this season to up his tally to seven on the season which is just four behind the lead league.