(Rochester, Minn.) – Rochester Honkers (10-6) starting pitcher David Lemasters (Lake Erie) turned in yet another fantastic pitching performance to lead the Honkers past the Bismarck Larks 4-1 on Thursday at Mayo Field.
Lemasters got the win to improve his record to 3-0 while throwing six innings, giving up five hits and striking out seven. Lemasters has shutdown opposing hitters not allowing a run through 20 2/3 innings of work. Rochester native Michael Brandt (Augustana) tossed a scoreless seventh inning and struck out two. Josh Ibarra (Concordia-Irvine) worked a two inning save giving up one run on one hit. It was his third save of the year.
The Honker scored three runs in the second inning as Griffin Schneider (Century) hit an RBI infield single to bring home Benjamin Sems (Kansas). Christian Robinson (Stanford) later came around to score on a fielder’s choice. Jaylon McLaughlin (Nevada) singled to right to bring home a run and cap off the scoring in the second.
McLaughlin had two more hits tonight to give the Los Angeles native his eighth multi-hit game of the season. McLaughlin has reached base in all 14 games he has played with the Honkers.
Sems drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to left to give the Honkers an insurance run in the eighth.
Bismarck narrowly avoided a shutout as Matthew Warkentin (Xavier) hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the Larks lone run in the ninth.
Larks starting pitcher Hendry Rodriguez (LSU-Alexandria) got the loss and fell to 1-1 on the year. He threw seven innings and gave up three runs on five hits.
The Honkers are back at Mayo Field Friday at 7:05 p.m. for the series finale against the Larks. Cole Quintanilla (Texas) is scheduled to start for the Honkers, he has a 0-1 record and a 2.45 ERA. Friday is Mason Jar Giveaway Night presented by ABC 6 News. The first 500 fans will receive a Mason Jar.
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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.
