(Rochester, Minn.) – The Rochester Honkers stayed hot as they extended their winning streak to four games defeating the Bismarck Larks 6-3 Sunday at Mayo Field. The win gives the Honkers their second longest winning streak of the year as they move to 9-9 in the second half and 26-28 overall. The Larks fall to 5-13 and 30-24.
Alex McGarry (Oregon State) went 2-for-4 on the day to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Nate Webb (UC Riverside) went 2-for-4 to give him his fifth multi-hit game of the summer.
Honkers starting pitcher Zak Devermann (Illinois) picked up his fourth win of the year after working 7 2/3 innings surrendering three runs on eight hits and striking out four. Michael Brandt (Augustana) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out three to post his first save.
The Larks got on top early as Michael Farnell (Murray State) crushed a two-run home run in the second to give Bismarck a 2-0 advantage.
The Honkers tied the game up in third as McGarry launched a two-run home run of his own. For McGarry, it was his fifth home run of the year.
The Honkers took the lead in the fourth. Logan Denholm (UC Davis) gave the Honkers a 3-2 lead driving in a run with a double. Denholm was driven in on a single by Casey Dunlap (Point Loma Nazarene) to take a 4-2 lead. Webb ripped a RBI single down the left field run to bring in Dunlap and cap off the scoring in the fourth.
The Larks fought back in the seventh as Matthew Warkentin (Xavier) hit his 10th home run to cut the Honkers lead to 5-3.
Rochester got a insurance run in the eighth as Matt Hardy (UC Riverside) roped an RBI double to the wall to bring home a run and put the Honkers up 6-3.
Bismarck starting pitcher Matt Butler (St. Cloud State) took the loss for the Larks. Butler tossed six innings and gave up five runs on seven hits.
The Honkers have a three-day break due to the Northwoods League All-Star festivities. The All-Star game takes place Tuesday at Homer Stryker Field in Kalamazoo, Mich. Right-handed pitchers Josh Ibarra (Concordia Irvine) and Chad Tworek (Keiser) will represent the Honkers at the game. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. central time.
The Honkers next game is Thursday in St. Cloud as they take on the Rox at 7:05 p.m.
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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.
