Wilcher comes off bench to record first Larks home run at Bismarck Muni
BISMARCK, ND – The Larks find themselves in the same spot yet again. A victory over the Willmar Stingers by a final score of 10-6 has given the Larks another chance to get their first sweep of the 2017 season.
The offense came out firing on all cylinders scoring seven runs throughout the first two innings. Noah Sadler got things going with an RBI single scoring Wyatt Ulrich in the bottom of the first.
The Larks (4-5) chased Stingers (5-4) starter Luke Chevalier (Northern State University) after he threw 35 pitches throughout the bottom of the first. According to Northwoods League rule, a pitcher is not allowed to return after throwing 35 pitches in one inning.
The Stingers were forced to turn to Jack Voigt (Century CC) in the bottom of the second inning. This is where the Larks started to pour it on. Six out of the first seven batters that stepped up to the plate eventually came around to score.
The player of the inning was Spencer Gillund. Gillund came up to the plate twice in the bottom of the second as he singled and scored his first chance and added an RBI sacrifice fly in his second chance.
With the score at 7-0 and Larks starter Andy Lalonde moving right along, the Stingers fought back to get within three runs. A four run top of the fifth was highlighted by a two-run homer over the right field wall by Eric Del Prado (Willamette University).
Lalonde’s night was finished as he threw five innings giving up four hits and four runs (3 ER).
Later on in the contest the Larks would add some insurance runs in both the sixth and the seventh inning to take a 9-4 lead.
Two guys who had been removed from the starting lineup early on in the season made the most of their opportunities.
Hunter Wilcher got the monkey off his back as he scorched an RBI double to the right-center field gap to snap his 0-12 start as a Lark. The two-out double scored Wyatt Ulrich in the bottom of the sixth.
Gillund added another RBI with an RBI groundout to score Quinn Irey who led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double over the left fielder’s head.
The Stingers would not go away however as they added two more runs off Larks reliever Carson Selin. Eddie Estrada (University of Minnesota) hit a high-towering RBI triple that Ulrich lost in the lights and Del Prado added another single to finish with three RBI on the night.
But the Larks wanted to throw the last punch. To be exact, Wilcher wanted to throw the last punch.
Wilcher continued to make the most of his opportunity by cementing himself in the Larks history books. On a 2-2 changeup, Wilcher hit the first ever Larks home run at the Bismarck Municipal Ballpark, Home of Dakota Community Bank and Trust Field.
Jeff Lindgren (Illinois State University) pitched a clean 1,2,3 inning in the top of the ninth to give the birds of Bismarck their fourth win on the season.
The Larks will try to flip the script tomorrow night as they have failed in their first three attempts to grab a pair of back-to-back wins.
Tonight's winning pitcher was Andy Lalonde (1-0), and the losing pitcher of tonight’s ballgame was Luke Chevalier (0-1).
The Larks look to sweep the Stingers tomorrow with the first pitch set for 7:05pm.
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The Bismarck Larks are apart of the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year old summer collegiate 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 170 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). 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.
