(Rochester, Minn.) – Coming off a game where they compiled 19 hits, The Rochester Honkers could not quite get the bats going as they were defeated by the Thunder Bay Border Cats 4-1 on Sunday at Port Arthur Stadium. The win broke the Border Cats nine-game losing streak and improved their record to 5-15. The Honkers dropped to 11-9.
Michael Michalak (Illinois) led the way on offense for the Honkers with three hits. Christian Robinson (Stanford) and Jaylon McLaughlin (Nevada) each two hits for Rochester. Robinson is hitting .563 in four games with the Honkers.
Rochester’s starting pitcher Chad Tworek (Keiser) tossed seven innings giving up four runs on nine hits and struck out four. Tworek lost his first game of the year to fall to 3-1. Ryan Dorney (St. Martin’s) came in relief for the second day in a row to throw one inning without allowing a base runner.
Ben McConnell (Fort Scott CC) gave the Border Cats a lead in the third as he doubled home the first run of the game. Nick Conti (Eckerd) gave Thunder Bay a 2-0 lead as he grounded out to bring a run home in the fourth.
Brady Gulakowski (North Carolina State) and Brandon Trammell (Tennessee) gave the Border Cats a two-run fifth inning as they both drove home a run for Thunder Bay with a double and a single respectively.
The Honkers fought back in the eighth as Michalak drove in his eighth run of the year with a ground out to first to cut the deficit to three.
Thunder Bay’s starter Erik Key (Lamar) got his second win of the year as he worked seven shutout innings. Key allowed just five hits and whiffed four.
The Honkers have their first day off of the season on Monday before returning to Mayo Field to take on the Border Cats Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday will be Royalty Night a Mayo Field, kids 15 and under will gain free admission if they dress up as their favorite prince or princess.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary 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, more than 190 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 (TOR). 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.
