ROCHESTER, MN. – For the fourth straight game, the Honkers got a solid performance from their starter pitcher, but unlike the previous three games, the opposing pitcher was even better and the Honkers fell 3-1 to the St. Cloud Rox.
Rochester’s starting pitcher David Lemasters got the Honkers off to a great start by retiring the side in the first two innings, much to the delight of the 1,168 fans who attended the game.
Unfortunately, even though the Honkers got a runner on base each of the first three innings, they couldn’t capitalize and the score was still 0-0 as the game entered the fourth inning.
Rochester got one of their best scoring chances in the fourth inning. The threat began when Tristan Peterson (New Mexico State) drew a walk and Brennan Schmitt (UW-La Crosse) followed that with a single. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch by St. Cloud’s starting pitcher Trevor Koenig. Then, Jack Thelen (UW-Milwaukee) drew a walk to load the bases. However, Koenig got out of the inning thanks to some superb from his defense when second basemen Trent Brown dropped back to shallow right field and caught over his shoulder what appeared to be a sure-fire bloop single.
The Rox broke through against Lemasters in their next at-bat. Garett Delano and Cam Kline drew walks and Brendan Tinsman hit an RBI single to put St. Cloud up 1-0.
The Honkers once again couple runners on base in the bottom of the fifth when Evan Berkey (Cal State-Bakersfield) and Craig Shepherd (Evansville) drew walks, but Koenig got his second and third strikeout of the game to put a stop to that threat.
The sixth inning was much better than the fifth for Lemasters, but all it took was one pitch, a Delano solo home run, for the Rox to double their lead.
After allowing two singles in the top of the seventh, Lemasters was relieved by Anthony Rodriguez (Monroe College). He gave two walks; the first loaded the bases and the second increased St. Cloud’s lead to 3-0.
Rochester finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning. Henry George (Minnesota-Duluth) drew a walk, he advanced to second on a single by Craig Shepherd (Evansville) and made his way to third base on a sac-fly. Then, with two outs, a wild pitch by St. Cloud pitcher Justin Wick allowed George to scamper home.
The Rox got runners on first and second in the ninth inning, but the Honkers pulled their third double-play of the game to prevent any more St. Cloud runs.
Down to their last three outs, the Honkers had one last scoring threat in them. It began when Aaron Simmons (UW-Stevens Point) hit a single, then after a fielder’s choice Peterson hit a single up the middle to bring the game-winning run and Rochester’s most dangerous hitter, Ryan Wrobleski, to the plate. But this time it wasn’t meant to be as Wrobleski hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield and was beaten to first base by the throw by half a step.
Koenig was named the winning pitcher for St. Cloud, while Lemasters took the loss despite only giving up two runs.
The loss brings the Honkers’ record to 11-8.
Rochester will play one more game against Bismarck on Saturday, June 15, before continuing their six-game homestand against the Bismarck Larks on Sunday.
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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