(Rochester, Minn.)— The Rochester Honkers would fall 5-4 to the Waterloo Bucks Thursday night in their final home game of the 2015 season. Tyler Feyereisen (St. Thomas) was charged with the loss for Rochester. Zach Siggelkow (St. Cloud State) earned the win for Waterloo. Matt James (Illinois) picked up the save for the Bucks.
The Bucks would score twice in the second and one in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead, but Matt Fiedler (Minnesota) would knock his seventh home run of the year out of the park in the bottom of the third, a solo shot over the left field wall to make it 3-1. Adam Walton (Illinois) would also go yard in the third with the bases empty to cut the deficit to one.
Waterloo would score again in the fourth and sixth to stretch the lead, but Joe DeRoche-Duffin (UCONN) would knock his 12th home run of the season over the wall with Fiedler on base to pull the Honkers right back in it, as they trailed 5-4 after seven innings.
The Honkers would still trail by one headed to the bottom of the ninth, Alex Schultz (Nebraska-Omaha) and Miles Mastrobuoni(College of San Mateo) reached base, then advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Fiedler to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Duffin was intentionally walked to load the bases, but a strikeout and groundout would end the chance at a walkoff.
The Honkers are 38-31 on the season, 1.5 games back of the Duluth Huskies for third in the North Division after the Huskies and Willmar Stingers lhad their game Thursday suspened due to weather.
Tomorrow, August 7th, the Honkers and Bucks will face off for the last time this season. The season series stands at 4-3 Rochester, so w win will secure the Scheels Highway 63 Cup for the Honkers.
The Honkers will travel to either St. Cloud or Willmar for the first round of the North Divisional Playoffs on Monday, August 10th. There will be a Fan Party bus traveling to the game at either location from Rochester. Fans can get a seat on the bus for $35. That cost will include the bus ride and a general admission ticket to the game. The Bus will depart from Gander Mountain in Rochester at 2:30 p.m. on game day. Fans can bring their own beverages and snacks, though water will be provided. Reserve your spot on the bus by calling the honkers office at 507-289-1170. Deadline to register for your seat is 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 8th.
All of the Honkers games can be found live on Sports Radio AM 1520 The Ticket. You can also listen for free at www.rochesterhonkers.com by clicking on the Listen to Games Live link. Live video streams of the games are available via the Northwoods league Live Stream, powered by Stretch Internet. To access, just visit www.northwoodsleague.com and click on the Watch Games Live link at the bottom of the page.
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
