(Rochester, Minn.)—The Rochester Honkers topped the Willmar Stingers 7-2 Thursday night in Willmar. Alex Evans (Barton County CC) moved to 4-0 on the season for Rochester after throwing 6.2 scoreless innings. Stingers’ starter Tyler Hanson (Minnesota) was charged with the loss after the Honkers rang up four runs on 10 hits against him.
Matt Fiedler (Minnesota) was a big part of that offensive onslaught, going 3-5 at the plate with three RBIs and a run scored.
Rochester took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning as Ryan Webberley (Cal Poly Pomona) brought Ryan Summers (Louisville) in with him on his second home run of the season. Mark Contreras would follow that with his third homer of the summer two batters later to give the Honkers a 3-0 lead.
That lead would stretch to 4-0 in the 4th inning, as Fiedler would bring in Miles Mastrobuoni (College of San Mateo) for his first RBI of the night.
That lead would hold until the 8th, when Fiedler would rack up his next two RBIs bringing in Summers and William Paschal (Georgia Gwinnett) on a double. Fiedler would advance to third, and eventually to home, on wild pitches and give Rochester a 7-0 lead.
Willmar would get a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth, but that’s all the closer they would come as the Honkers claimed a win over North Division First Half champions.
Rochester and Willmar will finish the two-game series Friday, July 10th, in Willmar at 7:05.
On Saturday, July 11th, the Honkers will be back at Mayo Field to face the St. Cloud Rox for a double header of seven-inning games starting at 6:05. It will be the Field of Future Stars presented by Meshbesher and Spence. All RYBA, RYSA, RYHA, Girls Softball and Miracle League players wearing their uniform top gain free admission to the game!
You can follow all the Honkers action on Sports Radio AM 1520 The Ticket with Clinton Cole, and on the Northwoods League Live stream, which can be found at northwoodsleague.com. Just click on the Watch Games Live link.
The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com
