The Rochester Honkers picked up a 1-0 victory over the Waterloo Bucks on Tuesday night and improve to 16-12 in a game that was called following a lengthy rain delay that began before entering the top of the sixth inning.
Cooper Annin made his fifth start of the season for Rochester and turned in one of his best performances of the summer. The right-hander came out firing, retiring the side in order in each of the first three innings.
Waterloo starter Chris Peterson was equally impressive. The right-hander worked a scoreless first inning before surrendering a leadoff double to Cameron Sewell in the second. Peterson settled in quickly, inducing a groundout and striking out two batters to escape the jam.
Offense was hard to come by for both clubs. Rochester threatened in the third when Andrew Grenert lined a one-out single into right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sam Harry then wore a breaking ball to put runners on first and second, but a 4-6-3 double play erased the scoring opportunity.
Annin continued to cruise through the fourth inning despite issuing two walks. After recording a lineout and a flyout, he worked around the free passes by inducing a groundout from Dane Most to keep the game scoreless.
The breakthrough finally came in the bottom of the fourth. Jackson Glueck was retired on a fly ball to right field, but Cameron Sewell stepped to the plate looking to spark the offense. After working the count to 2-1, Sewell drove a pitch the opposite way and just cleared the left-field wall for a solo home run, giving Rochester a 1-0 lead.
As rain began to fall over Mayo Field, Annin returned to the mound in the fifth and continued to dominate. Following a leadoff single by George Baker V, he responded with a flyout and a strikeout of Caleb Siebers. With two outs, Bubby Dosztan-Campbell hit a slow roller down the first-base line. Glueck charged the ball and made a heads-up play to record the force out and end the inning.
Rochester was unable to add to its lead in the bottom half of the fifth, but the lone run proved to be enough.
As thunderstorms continued to move through Rochester, the game entered a rain delay in the top of the sixth inning and was eventually called, securing the 1-0 victory for the Honkers.
Rochester returns to Mayo Field tomorrow night to open a two-game series against the Rockford Rivets. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 32nd 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, 360 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 two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). 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. League games are viewable live on FloSports. 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.
