ROCHESTER, MN. – After scoring a combined two runs in their last two games against the Thunder Bay Border Cats, the Honkers were looking for more offense as they closed out their series in Ontario, Canada. Rochester got a couple more runs, but it still wasn’t enough as they lost a tightly-contested game 4-3.
The Border Cats got the scoring started in the second inning when Thomas Grilli hit a RBI single to score Jordan Larson.
The Honkers tied the game in the fourth inning when Aaron Simmons (UW-Stevens Point) hit a sacrifice-fly to score Evan Berkey (Cal State-Bakersfield).
Rochester grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning when a RBI single by Berkey scored Seth Nelson (Golden West Community College).
Unfortunately, that lead didn’t last long as Thunder Bay got a couple runs when they came up to bat next. The first run occurred when Andrew Shebloski belted a double to score Alexander Hernandez. The second run came on an error by the Honker’s catcher which allowed Shebloski to cross home plate.
Mitchell Allen (New Mexico State) relieved Rochester’s starting pitcher Daniel Silva (Colorado-Colorado Springs) in the sixth inning. Even a fresh arm couldn’t prevent Thunder Bay from increasing their lead to 4-2 in the sixth on a sacrifice-fly by Anthony Galati.
The Honkers got one run back in the eighth when a double by Tristan Peterson (New Mexico State) scored Berkey all the way from first base. Peterson advanced to third base, but the Border Cats’ new reliever Aaron Kern got the last five outs of the game to end the Honkers’ rally.
The Profile Sanford Player of the Game honors went to Evan Berkey who was 3-for-5 with a RBI and two runs scored.
The Honkers will continue their road trip with a game in St. Cloud. They will return home on Saturday, June 8, to host St. Cloud in a 6:05 p.m start.
Season tickets and new all-you-can-eat ticket packages are available for purchase right now at www.RochesterHonkers.com or by calling the Honkers front office at 507-289-1170.
The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 26th 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, over 200 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 (MIA). 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.
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