ROCHESTER, MN. – Pretty much any sport can be called a game of inches, but when Tristan Peterson hit what looked like a walk-off grand slam to left-center field those inches were literal as Bismarck’s center fielder made a great catch at the top of wall to rob Peterson and preserve the Larks’ 6-3 win.
After an hour and five-minute rain delay, 611 fans stuck around to see what turned out to be a competitive game between two evenly-matched teams.
The starting pitchers showed exactly how evenly matched the teams were as neither of them allowed a run through the first five innings of the game. Another similarity is both pitchers, Rochester’s Dwayne Marshall (Maryland-Eastern Shore) and Bismarck’s Hunter Kloke, recorded seven strikeouts in five (or more) innings of work.
The Larks finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning when Brody Tanksley hit an RBI single to give Bismarck a 1-0 lead.
The Honkers responded right away with a run of their own. After hitting two straight batters, Kloke was replaced by Gage Herring who gave up a single to Trace Peterson (Lake Erie College) and a bases-loaded walk to Tristan Peterson (New Mexico State) to even the score.
Bismarck then came right back to retake the lead, 3-1, on a two-run double by David Mendham.
Rochester pulled within one run when Kyler McMahan (Oregon State) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Larks got that run back in the eighth as Brian Leonhardt scored on an error by Rochester’s catcher Ryan Wrobleski (Dallas Baptist).
The Honkers weren’t able to get anything going in the eighth so the score was still 4-2 as the game entered the ninth inning.
Bismarck wasn’t going to step off the gas as they added two more runs in the ninth. Mendham hit an RBI single to score Wyatt Ulrich from third base and Tanksley hit an RBI sacrifice-fly to score Mendham who had advanced to third base on a double by Cole Taylor.
Trailing by four runs and down to their final three outs, Rochester had a great chance to score multiple runs in the ninth. It started when Evan Berkey (Cal State-Bakersfield) began the inning with a single, McMahan advanced him to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Berkey advanced to third base on a groundout by Ryan Ober (Oregon State). Wrobleski brought him with an RBI single to make the game 6-3.
With two outs and only one runner (Wrobleski) on base, it didn’t look promising for the Honkers, but Zack Zalesky (Oregon State) hit a single and Trace Peterson was hit by a pitch to load the bases for one of Rochester’s power hitters, Tristan Peterson. All remaining Honkers fans were wondering if Peterson could pull of the dramatic walk-off grand slam and for a couple seconds it looked like it might just happen, but Lark’s center fielder Ulrich had other plans as he scaled the wall and caught the ball to end the game.
Dwayne Marshall was named the Profile Sanford Player of the Game for recording seven strikeouts in five shutout innings.
Rochester finishes up their homestand with two games against the Mankato MoonDogs. The first game starts at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18.
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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