(Rochester, Minn.)— The Rochester Honkers beat the Mankato MoonDogs 10-7 Monday Night in Mankato. Honkers’ reliever Spencer Greer (Dixie State) picked up the win. Samuel Myers (Central Arizona College) was given the loss for Mankato.
Rochester took an early 2-0 lead in the second when Scott Schreiber (Nebraska) Brought Mark Contreras (UC Riverside) and Cole Krzmarzick (Nevada) with a triple.
Mankato would tie it a 2-all in the bottom of the third, but Contreras would lift a solo homerun out of the park in the fourth to restore the Honkers lead. That lead wouldn’t last long though, as the MoonDogs scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the Honkers down 4-3.
Rochester would get back on top 5-4 in the fifth, as Slade Heggen would bring Contreras and Alex Schultz (Nebraska-Omaha) in with his RBI double, but the back and forth would continue as Mankato would plate a run in the sixth to tie the game at 5-5.
Schultz would break the tie with a two-run homerun in the eighth, his first of the season, but Mankato would get one back, and the Honkers would head into the ninth with a 7-6 lead.
Rochester would plate three runs for insurance in the final frame, including Contreras’ fourth run of the game. Mankato would get one run in the bottom of the ninth, but that’s all the farther their comeback would get as the Honkers would claim the 10-7 victory.
The Honkers are now tied for second with Willmar in the North for the second half at 8-5, two games back of the first place St. Cloud Rox. Rochester is third in the overall season standings in the division at 28-19.
The Honkers will head to Thunder Bay for a two game series tomorrow. They will be back home on Thursday, July 16th to take on the Willmar Stingers. It will be Mayo Department of Medicine Night, and a Novo Nordisk Homerun for Life Thursday.
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
