(Rochester, Minn.)—The Rochester Honkers fell to the Willmar Stingers 3-1 Friday night in Willmar, splitting the two game-series. Matt Fiedler (Minnesota) was charged with the loss after allowing three runs in seven innings of work, his longest outing of the season. Kiko Garcia (Pepperdine) earned the win for Willmar. Brady Anderson (FGCU) picked up the save for the Stingers.
Catcher Slade Heggen (Oregon) provided the lone scoring punch for the Rochester side, driving in a solo home run with one out in the second inning to tie the game at 1-all after Willmar scored one in the bottom of the first inning.
Fiedler retired nine straight batters in the second through fourth innings to give the Honkers an opportunity to overtake the Stingers, but struggles at the plate doomed Rochester as they could muster only three hits on the evening.
Willmar would plate a run in the sixth and seventh innings for a 3-1 lead that the Honkers would not overcome.
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
