(Rochester, Minn.) – The Rochester Honkers fell to the La Crosse Loggers 6-5 in La Crosse Sunday night in extra innings.
Casey Worden (UC-Riverside) hit a two-out, three-run home run to tie the game at 5 in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 5.
In the bottom of the tenth, Randy Labaut (Arizona) hit a single to score Justin Wylie (San Diego State) to give the Loggers a 6-5 win.
Joey Czarske (Cal State Northridge) hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to cut the Loggers lead to 4-2, but the Loggers scored again in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-2 lead.
The Loggers took the lead in the second inning when Lars Nootbaar (USC) scored on a wild pitch. Gavin Johns (UCLA) hit a sacrifice fly score the Loggers their second run of the game to give the Loggers a 2-0 lead after two innings of play.
The Honkers cut the lead to 2-1 when Cole Heavilin (Wagner College) hit a RBI single to score Worden in the sixth.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Loggers scored another two runs and it started on a RBI double from Cullen Large (William Mary), which was followed by a RBI single from Grant Fennell (Nevada) to make the score 4-1.
Czarske homered in the eighth, and then the Loggers scored another run in the bottom half of the frame when Kyle Plantier (UC – Santa Barbara) hit a RBI double.
Cameron Aufderheide (Saddle Back) got the start for the Honkers; he pitched six innings, allowed two runs on five hits, walked three and struck out four. Davis Messer (Santa Barbara City) pitched the final two innings in relief; he allowed three runs, two of them earned, on four hits and walked one. Stevie Ledesma (0-3) (Santa Barbara City) pitched the final inning for the Honkers and took the loss; he allowed one run, unearned, on two hits and walked one.
Taylor Batch (Florida State) got the start for the Loggers; he pitched five innings, allowed one run on four hits, walked four and struck out four. Jared Liebelt (Waubonsee CC) pitched two innings in relief for the Loggers; he allowed one run on three hits, walked one and struck out two. Cason Sherrod (3-3) (Texas A&M) got the win; he pitched one inning and struck out three.
The Honkers finish the second half with a record of 13-24 and an overall record of 20-52. The Loggers finish the second half with a record of 21-14 and an overall record of 38-33.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, 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 150 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the Honkers as your favorite team!
