(Rochester, Minn.) – The Rochester Honkers are back in the win column after shutting out the defending champion St. Cloud Rox 6-0 tonight at Mayo Field. The shutout was the first of the year for Rochester and the first time St. Cloud has been shut out.
Honkers starting pitcher David Lemasters (Lake Erie) continued his stellar season earning his second win of the year. He tossed six innings without giving up a run and surrendered just three hits while striking out six. Lemasters has spun 14 2/3 scoreless innings this season. Michael Brandt (Augustana), Thomas Greely (San Joaquin State) and Ryan Casper (Point Loma Nazarene) tossed an inning a piece to shut the door on the Rox.
Neither team could get much offense going early as the Rox had the only hit of the game through three innings. But the Honkers broke the game open in the fourth as David Noworyta (Hawaii) doubled with the bases loaded to bring home three. Benjamin Sems (Kansas) brought Noworyta home with a sacrifice fly to cap off a 4-run fourth.
The Honkers added insurance in the seventh as Noworyta scored on a balk and Jaylon McLaughlin (Nevada) ripped an RBI double down the left field line.
Rox starting pitcher Andrew Mitchel (San Jose State) threw four innings and gave up four earned runs despite allowing only one hit and got tagged with his first loss of the season.
Rochester will begin a 3-game road trip Saturday at St. Cloud for a 6:05 p.m. first pitch. Then, it is wheels up to Bismarck for a 2-game series with the Bismarck Larks before returning to Mayo Field Tuesday for a 7:05 p.m. match-up with the La Crosse Loggers.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball,including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). 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 or on Google Play and set the Honkers as your favorite team.
