WATERLOO, IOWA — The final game of the season between the Rochester Honkers (7-28) and the Waterloo Bucks (27-13) wasn’t kind to the Team in Teal, as the Bucks downed the Honkers with a barrage of early offense.
Rochester opened the scoring in the first inning, when Taison Corio (Cal Poly) was brought home on a one-out single by Aaron Simmons (Wisconsin-Stevens Point).
The Bucks wasted no time in responding, crossing a run of their own in the bottom half when Brett McCleary (Iowa) evened the score with an RBI single of his own.
Waterloo added three more in the second and six in the third to put the game out of reach by the fourth inning. The Bucks sent 10 men to the plate in the third, recording the six runs on just four hits. Three of the tallies came unearned, and two of them came across on wild pitches.
While bright spots were few and far between on Monday night, there were a few trickled in. Nick Thimsen (Concordia-St. Paul) picked up his first multi-hit night of the year with a pair of singles. Simmons extended his on-base streak to nine games with the single in the first, and drew his 13th walk of the season in the ninth. Corio also drew a pair of walks in the loss.
Two of Rochester’s relief arms turned in strong performances. Damon Rademacher (Gustavus Adolphus) hurled 1.2 innings of no-hit ball, striking out one over four batters faced. Jack Zalasky (Sacramento State) punched out two in a clean eighth inning. Zalasky has now struck out 24 hitters with the Honkers and has sent a batter down on strikes in all but two outings.
The Honkers will look to rebound tomorrow night at Mayo Field when they take on the St. Cloud Rox at 6:35 p.m. CST in the first of a two-game homestand to conclude the 2020 season. Catch Honkers Pregame Live presented by Rochester Toyota at 6:30 to get you set for all the action on portal.stretchinternet.com/NWLHonkers.
Connect with the Honkers on social media by liking them on Facebook and following them on twitter @RochHonkers and Instagram @HonkersBaseball. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #UnlockTheFlock!
