(Waterloo, Iowa) – The Rochester Honkers (9-10) fell to the North Division-leading Waterloo Bucks (15-4) in Riverfront Stadium Sunday afternoon by a score of 6-2. The Bucks’ pitching staff held a combined no-hitter through eight innings, despite walking 11 batters in the game. Jordan Hart’s (Minnesota State-Mankato) ended the no-hitter with a leadoff triple in the ninth inning. Nathan Walker (San Diego) earned the win (3-1) for the Bucks. He gave up one run in his five innings.
The Honkers threatened to score in the opening inning. The Bucks’ starting pitcher Nathan Walker walked three of the first four batters of the game, loading the bases with one out. Waterloo retired the next two batters to escape the inning.
Rochester did bring a runner home in the fourth inning. After two quick outs to start the inning, Walker walked four consecutive Honker batters. Michael Michalak (Des Moines Area CC) scored from third base on the fourth walk of the inning to give Rochester a 1-0 lead.
The Honkers’ starting pitcher Beau O’Hara (Texas) pitched the first three innings scoreless, only giving up two hits. Waterloo finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two runners on base and no outs, John Cable (New Orleans) tied the game with a RBI infield single to the shortstop. The Bucks took the lead two batters on a single by Josh Elvir (Angelina). A sacrifice fly gave Waterloo the third run of the inning, but the Honkers capitalized by turning the fly out into a double play. Elvir was called out at first base after failing to properly tag from first base.
Waterloo added three runs in three separate innings to extend their lead to five going into the final inning. The Bucks’ bullpen relieved Walker in the sixth inning, looking to finish out the no-hitter. They held the Honkers without a hit in their first three innings of work, but couldn’t close out the no-hitter in the ninth inning.
Jordan Hart (Minnesota State-Mankato) broke up the no-hitter with a triple off the left field wall. He scored moments later on a sacrifice fly to center field from Chris Ceballos (Orange Coast). Two Honkers walked, but the Flock could not complete the comeback.
O’Hara took the loss (1-1) for the Honkers. He pitched five innings, giving up four runs on six hits. He walked three batters with three strikeouts.
The Flock will return home on Monday, June 19th to take on the Willmar Stingers. It will be Can Coozie Night at Mayo Field, presented by F&M Community Bank and Minnesota 97.5. The first 500 fans will receive a Free Can Coozie. It is also the first game in the Bob the Bug Man "Swatter Series." Drew Slade (Ripon) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Honkers. First pitch Monday night is 7:05 p.m. Gates open at 6:00 p.m.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 23-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 160 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
