(Rochester, Minn.)— The Rochester Honkers fell to the Waterloo Bucks 3-2 Friday night in Waterloo, splitting the season series 4-4, ensuring the Scheels Highway 63 Cup would remain in Waterloo for another year. Matt Fiedler (Minnesota) would take the loss for Rochester, while Taylor Gilson (Wartburg College) earned the win for Waterloo.
Slade Heggen (Oregon) went 3-3 at the plate with a walk and a run scored for the Honkers.
Waterloo would score one in the bottom of the first to take the early lead, but the Honkers would respond in the third, as Miles Mastrobuoni (College of San Mateo) would score on a single from Joe DeRoche-Duffin (UCONN) to tie it at 1-all.
Rochester would take the lead in the fourth as Heggen would come in on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Summers (Louisville), but Waterloo would plate one in the bottom of the fourth and the go-ahead run in the sixth for a 3-2 final.
The Honkers now sit at 38-32 for the season, 1.5 games back of the Duluth Huskies for third place in the North Division, and 8.5 games back of the first place St. Cloud Rox with two games remaining until the playoffs.
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
