ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Rochester Honkers fell to the La Crosse Loggers 6-3 on Tuesday night as the Loggers seized momentum from the opening pitch.
Alito McBean made his first start for the Honkers and, aside from the game’s first pitch, turned in a solid performance. McBean left a fastball over the plate to begin the contest, and Joey Senstock made him pay, sending a line drive over the left-center field wall to give La Crosse an early 1-0 lead.
After the opening inning, both pitchers settled in. McBean found his rhythm on the mound, while Loggers starter Cody Kiemele dominated the Honkers lineup, allowing just one hit through five innings.
Field manager Justin Ramsey spoke about the importance of Kiemele’s strong outing.
“He’s been fantastic. I think if you look at the numbers, the first one kind of hinders what they look like overall,” Ramsey said. “But that’s what we’ve been getting the last couple times out, and that’s what we expect from a quality arm.”
Holding a 2-0 lead after a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, La Crosse looked to add insurance. After surrendering a single and a walk, Honkers reliever Peyton Huff battled back with a strikeout and a flyout to center field.
Then Stephen Chucka stepped to the plate.
Huff left a pitch in the zone, and Chucka capitalized, driving a towering shot off the apartment complex wall beyond right field to extend the Loggers’ lead.
Chucka described what he saw at the plate.
“He just threw me a cutter kind of over the heart of the plate. I got a really good swing on it and was able to do some damage,” Chucka said.
The Honkers’ offense was quiet for much of the night, but they showed signs of life late. After a leadoff double from Nolan Gantar, Matt Maize delivered a base hit of his own. Maize drove a fastball on the outer half into right field, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
The Loggers added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI single by Sebastian Hurtado. Ramsey then turned to Beau Leisure out of the bullpen, and the right-hander closed out the game to secure the victory and a series split for La Crosse.
Rochester will look to get back on track Wednesday night when it hosts the Bismarck Larks at 6:35 p.m.
###
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.
