ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Rochester Honkers battled back from an early three-run deficit but could not withstand a late offensive surge from the La Crosse Loggers, falling 10-4 Monday night at Mayo Field.
Jonathan Borowski made his first appearance and first start for Rochester, but La Crosse wasted little time jumping on the right-hander. In the top of the first inning, Lukas Buckner launched a home run to deep right field to give the Loggers an early 1-0 lead. Borowski’s outing was limited as he reached his 35-pitch limit in the opening frame, forcing Honkers manager Jason Jácome to make an early call to the bullpen.
Easton Arendt entered in relief and settled things down. After allowing a single to Seth Thompson, Arendt induced three consecutive groundouts to escape the inning without further damage.
Both teams were held scoreless in the second before the Loggers added to their lead in the third. With one out, cleanup hitter Eli Small drove an opposite-field solo home run over the left-field wall to make it 2-0. La Crosse kept the pressure on with a walk followed by consecutive base hits to extend its advantage to 3-0.
The Honkers answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Angel Santiago led off with a single before a double from Drumm put runners on second and third. Seth Thompson drove in Rochester’s first run with an RBI single through the right side, and Jacob Neutz followed with a two-out RBI single to trim the deficit to 3-2.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Diego Johnson delivered another strong inning out of the bullpen to keep Rochester within striking distance.
Neutz came through again in the fifth. With two outs, the first baseman crushed a solo home run to deep right field to tie the game at 3-3.
The Honkers grabbed their first lead an inning later. Mark Meunkel worked a one-out walk before moving into scoring position. After a groundout, Santiago delivered once again, lining an RBI double to give Rochester a 4-3 advantage.
The game turned dramatically in the seventh.
Owen Hinderman retired the first two hitters of the inning before La Crosse mounted its rally. A single followed by three consecutive walks forced home the tying run. Jácome turned to Koda Sanders, but Eason Hurd greeted him with an RBI single as the Loggers plated four runs in the inning to reclaim the lead.
La Crosse added the finishing touches in the eighth. Sanders remained on the mound and allowed a walk and a single before recording the first out. Maxwell Kalk then broke the game open, launching a three-run home run to deep right field to extend the Loggers’ lead to 10-4.
Kalk described his approach after the game.
“I was just looking for something over the plate. I got a heater and didn’t miss it. Pretty simple,” Kalk said.
The Loggers scored seven unanswered runs over the seventh and eighth innings to pull away.
La Crosse field manager Justin Ramsey credited his team’s resilience after falling behind late.
“Well, obviously they’re competing as they always do. They had a lead late there, but good job by our guys sticking with their approach and finding a way to push them across,” Ramsey said. “Obviously, we got some help, but you still have to put together good at-bats when you’re up there, and our guys did a good job of doing that.”
The victory keeps La Crosse in the hunt for home-field advantage in the first round of the Northwoods League playoffs alongside the Eau Claire Express.
The Honkers and Loggers will wrap up their season series Tuesday night at historic Mayo Field.
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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 at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. 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.
