St. Cloud, MN. – The Honkers’ offense scored early and rode great pitching to a 3-1 road win over the St. Cloud Rox.
Rochester struck first in the top of the second inning when Kyler McMahan (Oregon State) hit an RBI single to score Ryan Wrobleski (Dallas Baptist) from third base. But wait there’s more! The Honkers got another run when Evan Berkey (Cal State-Bakersfield) also hit an RBI single to bring Zack Zalesky (Oregon State) home and give Rochester a 2-0 lead.
St. Cloud got one run back in the bottom half of the second inning thanks to their first two batters. Landon Stephens got on first base when he was hit by a pitch and Jack Kelly doubled to bring him home. After that, Honkers’ starter Marty Tolson Jr. (Maryland-Eastern Shore) settled down and got three straight outs to keep Rochester in the lead, 2-1.
The Honkers re-claimed their two-run lead in the top of the third inning by manufacturing a run in almost the same way that the Rox scored. Andy Armstrong (Oregon State) reached first base on a single and Tristan Peterson (New Mexico State) doubled to bring him home. Just like that Rochester was ahead 3-1.
The Rox got a lead-off double from Stephens in the fourth inning, but Tolson Jr. bounced back by not allowing another hit in that inning.
Similarly, the Honkers got a lead-off double from Armstrong in the top of the fifth, but couldn’t advance him any further as St. Cloud starter Trae Robertson got three straight outs to end that threat.
In the sixth, All-Star Ryan Middendorf (Lake Erie College) came in and he pitched two scoreless innings while allowing just one hit.
Rox’ pitcher Rhyse Dee and Marc Bisogno (Fordham) combined to pitch back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the eighth inning.
A two-run lead is all Honkers’ reliever Keon Taylor (Georgetown College) would need as he retired the side in just seven pitches to give Rochester a 3-1 win.
Rochester’s second half record improves to 4-3 and their overall record is now 22-20.
Tolson Jr. was named the Profile Sanford Player of the Game for striking out four batters and allowing just one run in his first start of the season.
On Wednesday, July 10, the Honkers host a double-header against St. Cloud with the first game starting at 5 p.m. Both games will last seven innings. The Flock will then travel to La Crosse to take on the Loggers on July 11.
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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