The Rochester Honkers, 1st Half North Champions, will take on the St. Cloud River Bats in the North Division Playoffs. The Honkers had their Playoff ticket punched after a 19-13 record in the 1st Half while the River Bats clinched their Playoff spot Sunday night with their win against the Honkers. St. Cloud and Willmar were battling for the final North Division spot, but Willmar lost their last two games in Thunder Bay while St. Cloud has won their last two games.
The Honkers and River Bats have combined to win three of the last four NWL titles and combined to win eight of the sixteen titles in league history. The Honkers have five NWL Championships and the River Bats have three in their franchise history. Each team has made the playoffs 10 times which leads the NWL. St. Cloud leads the head-to-head matchup 3-2 in the Playoffs over the Honkers. St. Cloud won the 1998 Championship by sweeping the Honkers 2-0, but lost in 1999 to Rochester in three games.
The Honkers, the 2009 Northwoods Champions, are led by energetic field manager Ryan Ruiz (Central Arizona). Ruiz managed the team to a 19-13 1st Half record and are currently 16-16 with their final home game tonight at Mayo Field. The Honker offense is led by home run hitters Jimmy Waters (Kansas) and Chris Elder (Oral Roberts) who both have nine home runs on the season. Ryan Hambright (Oregon) and Matt Dittman (Illinois) are both sport batting averages above .325. Rochester’s pitching staff consists of five-game winners Josh McKeon (Upper Iowa) and Mike Strong (Oklahoma State) who both have logged 55.0+ innings on the season.
The St. Cloud River Bats earn their 1st Playoff appearance since 2007 and are coached by field manager Gabe Boruff (Washington State). Boruff leads a River Bats team that is 4th in the league in ERA at 3.67 and has a .260 batting average. The St. Cloud pitching staff is anchored by hard-throwing lefty Jason Wheeler (Loyola Marymount) who leads the league in wins at eight. Wheeler is joined by starting pitchers Austen Wisroth (Wayne State) and Jason Van Skike (Indiana State) who have four and six wins respectively and logged 58.0+ innings each. St. Cloud’s offense has All-Star shortstop Steve Nyisztor (Rutgers) who is hitting .301 with 28 extra base hits and leads the team in steals with 18. Second basemen Tommy Coyle (North Carolina) is hitting .318 for the River Bats.
Follow the North Division Playoffs as the Honkers take on the River Bats Tuesday night at Mayo Field in Rochester at 7:05. Game two will be played in St. Cloud on Wednesday at 7:05 while game three will also be played in St. Cloud at 7:05 if necessary.
