In a Thursday night contest, the Rochester Honkers (22-23, 4-7) were battling to stay in the playoff conversation in the Great Plains East division against the Minnesota Mud Puppies (7-17, 1-4). Starting pitchers Jacob Morsko (St. Thomas) and Holden Garcia (Cal Poly) were brilliant, but Minnesota mustered just enough offense to win the game 3-1.
Both pitchers tossed two scoreless frames to begin the game. Garcia was good for Rochester, but Mrosko was untouchable for the Mud Puppies. Mrosko’s first six outs came via the strikeout, and he would finish his start with six shutout innings, just one hit allowed, and 11 punch outs.
The Mud Puppies got on the board in the third inning behind a solo home run by Adam Berghult (North Iowa Area CC). They scored two more in the fourth inning on another home run, this time from Carter Hanson (UMASS), who snuck just inside the foul pole and made it 3-0.
The Honkers had a few rallies as the game went along, but they couldn’t bring any runs across until the eighth inning. With Paul Schoenfeld (Colorado Mesa) on second base with two outs, Ben North flared a single into right field and brought the speedy outfield to the plate.
That’s all the Honkers would get. Ryan Lambert (Oklahoma) came on in the eighth and recorded the six-out save and the Mud Puppies won for the second this season against the Honkers.
These two teams play again on Friday at 6:35.
The Rochester Honkers began their 30th season of play on May 29th. Keep up with the team on social media by following them on Twitter (@RochHonkers) and Instagram (@honkersbaseball) and like the Honkers on Facebook at Rochester Honkers Baseball Club. Interact on social by using the hashtag #FunForTheWholeFlock!
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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 310 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
