The Rochester Honkers gained some ground in the North Division tonight as they defeated the St. Cloud Rox and the Waterloo Bucks also lost. The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters had their five-game winning streak snapped and with a win, the Kenosha Kingfish come within 4.5 games back. The Kingfish scored nine tonight to win game number 18 and put them in a tie for the third best record in the league.

Battle Creek 3, Rockford 2

The Battle Creek Bombers raced out to an early lead and never looked back as they defeated the Rockford Rivets 3-2. The Bombers got their first run in the second when Nick Walker (Austin Peay) hit an RBI double. Jordan Getzelman (Menlo) then led off the fourth with a single, stole second, advanced from a balk and scored from an RBI ground out. The third run came in as many innings when Nikola Vasic (McHenry CC) scored on an RBI ground out. Trevor Paradoski (Texas Tech) put the Rivets on the board in the seventh after hitting an RBI double. Rockford was down to its final two outs when Brian Klein (Texas Tech) scored on an RBI ground out. The next batter was hit, but Tim Nelson (UC San Diego) got the next guy to strikeout to end the game.

Green Bay 4, Lakeshore 3

The Green Bay Bullfrogs allowed three early, but scored late to defeat the Lakeshore Chinooks 4-3. Rylan Thomas (Central Florida) put Lakeshore on the board in the first after hitting a two-run home run. The Chinooks added one more in the third when Matthew Mika (Central Florida) scored an unearned run. That would be it for Lakeshore as Green Bay started to comeback with one in the sixth. Aaron Pleschner (San Jose State) came around to score from a bases loaded hit by pitch. The Frogs eventually took the lead in the seventh when Willie Bourbon (Northwestern) scored on an error and two more came home from an RBI single by Troy Johnston (Gonzaga). Green Bay’s bullpen managed to throw the final three scoreless including Nick Ohanian (Mesa CC) picking up his third save of the game.

Eau Claire 9, Duluth 7

The Eau Claire Express held off a late rally by the Duluth Huskies to win 9-7. The Express scored right away when Kyle Marinconz hit a two-run double. Peter McEvoy (Riverside City College) put up two more for Eau Claire in the fifth from a two-run home run. Matt Frazier (Arizona) answered for Duluth to put them on the board with an RBI single in the fifth. Eau Claire responded right away in the next inning when Beau Capanna (New Mexico) drove in one from a single. Jake Pries (UCLA) kept the Huskies in the game after he led off the sixth with a solo home run. The Express put up four in the seventh which started from back-to-back RBI singles by Justin Evans (Columbus State) and Scott Ogrin (Cal Poly). Kyle Hubbuch (North Alabama) then started a three-run seventh for Duluth with a solo shot. Down four with two outs in the ninth, Duluth got two from an error by the left fielder. Austin George (Charleston) then came in and got the final guy to strikeout to end the game.

Madison 0, Wisconsin 1

The Wisconsin Woodchucks only need one run in the third to defeat the Madison Mallards 1-0. The first six Woodchucks were retired in order until Jackson Owens (Texas A&M-CC) was hit by a pitch to lead off the third. He advanced on a pass ball, ground out and sored from an RBI single by Trey Dawson (Chipola). The Woodchucks committed four errors, but Madison did not capitalize on them. Their starter Simon Rosenblum-Larson (Harvard) only allowed the one run in the five innings, but didn’t receive any run support. The Chucks’ starter Heath Hawkins (Furman) threw 6.1 scoreless, only allowed four hits, two walks while striking out six to earn himself his first win of the season. Orsen Josephona (Hillsborough CC) also pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his ninth save of the season.

Fond du Lac 1, Kenosha 9

The Kenosha Kingfish scored early and often tonight to defeat the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders 9-1. The Kingfish put up four runs right away in the first three innings. A pair of runs came in the bottom half of the first when Derek Bangert (Bradley) hit a solo home run. Tyler Paulsen (Illinois State) hit a solo shot in the second and another came from a wild pitch in the third. Fondy put up their first in the top half of the third from a Colton Neel (Memphis) RBI single. Jack Yalowitz (Illinois) started a three-run sixth inning with a two-run single. Bangert hit another two-run shot in the eighth to give Kenosha the eventual final score to win the game.

Bismarck 7, La Crosse 4

The Bismarck Larks scored seven runs early to take the lead and win the game 7-4. Brandon Lankford (UNC-Asheville) scored the first run for the Larks in the second from a sacrifice. Austin Paschke (Faulkner) then followed that with a two-run single. Bismarck got one more in the third from a pass ball until Grant Judkins (Iowa) hit a two-run shot for La Crosse in the bottom half. Paschke added a home run for Bismarck with a two-run shot in a three-run inning. The Loggers put themselves within four in the fifth from a sac fly by Judkins. Kennie Taylor (Duke) scored in the eighth to cut the Loggers’ deficit to three, but Jeff Lindgren (Illinois State) pitched two innings to earn himself his fourth save of the season.

Rochester 4, St. Cloud 3

The Rochester Honkers used the middle innings to pull away from the St. Cloud Rox and win 4-3. Chris Ceballos (Orange Coast JC) put the Honkers on the board first with an RBI single in the fourth. Matthew Tarantino (Pacific) then answered for the Rox in the bottom half as he scored from a sac fly. Rochester pulled ahead to take the lead in the fifth from a bases loaded hit by pitch and an RBI fielder’s choice. Jordan Hart (Minnesota State) then led off the sixth for the Honkers with a solo home run. The Rox wouldn’t go away as Cameron Eden (California) hit a two-run single to put them within one. Garrett Cobb (Seminole State) then threw the final two scoreless to earn his sixth save of the season.

Wisconsin Rapids 4, Kalamazoo 7

The Kalamazoo Growlers held off a late Wisconsin Rapids Rafters rally to defeat them 7-4. Kalamazoo scored a pair of runs in the fourth which started from Connor Hollis (Houston) coming home on a bases loaded walk. Rapids got a run back in the seventh when Jake Guenther (Sacramento City CC) scored from an RBI ground out. The Growlers then broke the game open in the bottom half when they put up five. Kaleb Murphy (USC) was the first to score from a wild pitch. The next batter Jeff Riedel (Ball State) knocked in a run from a single. One more came from an RBI fielder’s choice and two more from a double. The Rafters weren’t going to go away quietly as Dustin Woodcock (SIU-Edwardsville) hit a three-run shot in the ninth. Beau Ridgeway (Texas) stepped in for Kalamazoo with a runner on to get the final out and end the game.

Willmar 6, Mankato 7

The Mankato MoonDogs defeated the Willmar Stingers 7-6 tonight in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth. The first six innings of the game when scoreless for both teams. Willmar’s starter Tyler Oldenberg (Seattle) threw 5.2 scoreless, only allowing four hits, two walks while striking out five. Tyler Lesley (Incarnate Word) threw the first seven scoreless until the Stingers got to him in the eighth for four, but only two earned. The MoonDogs finally scored first with a pair in the bottom of the seventh which started from a solo shot by Kyle Cuellar (UCLA). Willmar responded in a big way for six runs in the eighth. Tyler Reichenborn (Iowa Western) started things with a two-run single. Four runs then came home, all unearned from two errors. Down four going into the bottom of the ninth, Mankato needed five to win and they did just that. With one out and three already across, Christopher Schaeffer (Western Illinois) hit a game winning single to drive in the final two runs.

Waterloo 4, Thunder Bay 6

The Thunder Bay Border Cats pulled away in the eighth, fought off a late rally by the Waterloo Bucks and won 6-4. Kevin Biondic (Maryland) hit an RBI single in the first to put Thunder Bay up early. Josh Elvir (Angelina) then gave Waterloo the lead in the fourth from a two-run home run. The Border Cats tied the game in the fifth when Colton Thomas (South Alabama) hit an RBI single. Thunder Bay took the lead when Brendan Dougherty (Bradley) scored from an RBI fielder’s choice in the sixth. Thunder Bay tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth which started from an RBI double by Colin Rosenbaum (Belmont Abbey). The top team in the North wouldn’t go away as the Bucks got two in the ninth, but the Cats got the final batter to fly out to end the game.

 

 

Schedule for June 27:

La Crosse @ Duluth (6:35 PM)

Lakeshore @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM)

Mankato @ Waterloo (6:35 PM)

St. Cloud @ Eau Claire (6:35 PM)

Bismarck @ Willmar (7:05 PM)

Fond du Lac @ Wisconsin Rapids (7:05 PM)

Kalamazoo @ Madison (7:05 PM)

Kenosha @ Green Bay (7:05 PM)

Rockford @ Battle Creek (7:05 PM)

Thunder Bay @ Rochester (7:05 PM)