(Rochester, Minn.) – A five run 11th inning led the Willmar Stingers to defeat the Rochester Honkers 10-5 on Tuesday at Mayo Field. The Stingers have now won four of their last five and move to 17-11 on the season. The Honkers fall to 14-14.
Jaylon McLaughlin (Nevada) continues to swing a hot bat as he collected his 12th multi-hit game of the year. He finished with three hits in six at-bats and scored a run. Additionally, Alex McGarry (Oregon State) had three hits and two RBIs for the Honkers offense.
Honker’s starting pitcher David Lemasters (Lake Erie) tossed another gem despite receiving a no decision. He threw six innings allowing two runs on seven hits and struck out five. Zach Sundine (Lamar CC) made his Honkers debut and twirled two scoreless innings while striking out four. Kevin West (UC Riverside) worked one inning allowing two runs on three hits. Connor Barrett (Point Loma Nazarene) was the losing pitcher for Rochester, he gave up four runs in 1 1/3 innings of work.
The Honkers gave themselves a 1-0 lead in the first as McGarry singled to left to bring home McLaughlin who singled to lead off the game.
The Stingers came back in the third to take a 2-1 lead on a two-run home run off the bat of Tyler Reichenborn (Iowa Western).
McLaughlin drove in the equalizing run in the seventh as he beat out a ground ball to short to drive in his seventh run of the year.
The Honkers took a 3-2 lead in the eighth as Reed Hjelle (Minnesota-Crookston) hit a towering infield pop-up with two outs and Matt Hardy (UC Riverside) on first. The ball was dropped by the Stingers second baseman who later committed a throwing error on the same play to allow Hardy to score.
The Stingers rallied in the ninth as Jaxon Hallmark (Nebraska) came around to score on an error to even up the game at three. Reichenborn drove in the go-ahead run on a double to the right center gap. Nic Hernandez (Cal Poly Pamona) singled home a run to give Willmar an insurance run and extend their lead to 5-3.
Rochester fought back in the ninth as McGarry drove in his third run of the game to bring the Honkers within one run. The Honkers later tied the game as pinch runner Taylor Adams (Oregon) came around to score on an error.
The Stingers gave themselves a five run lead with a rally in the eleventh. Richie Garcia (Florida Gulf Coast) gave Willmar a one run lead with a single to left. Hallmark kept the rally going as he walked to push the score to 7-5. Caleb Ricca (Northwestern State) gave the Stingers another two runs as he ripped a single to left. Matt Rudick (San Diego State) added another run for Willmar on a sacrifice fly to deep center.
Bryant Claunch (North Alabama) was the winning pitcher for the Stingers. He worked two scoreless innings and struck out two.
The Honkers will host the Mankato MoonDogs at 12:05 p.m. for the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday. Wednesday is Kids 3Buck Day presented by Overby Orthodontics, kids under 12 will gain $3 off general admission. Zak Devermann (Illinois) is scheduled to pitch for the Honkers, the left-hander has a 1-2 record and a 5.31 ERA. Devermann will be up against Jacob Nagel (Bellarmine) from Mankato, Nagel has posted a 3.21 ERA and has a 1-2 record. The Honkers will head to Mankato for a 7:05 match-up to complete the doubleheader on Wednesday.
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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.
