Honkers wind up finishing season 19-15 in the North Division
(Rochester, Minn.)– The Honkers dropped what will turn out to be their final game of the first half, 6-5, to the Waterloo Bucks.
Through five innings, the Honkers only managed a single hit off Bucks starter Nick Veale (North Iowa Area Community College). On the other side of the mound, the Honkers starter Matt Kent (Texas A&M) pitched around some trouble throughout his start and kept his team in prime position to come back for a third straight day. In Kent’s six innings, he allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks.
The Honkers trailed in the bottom of the sixth inning 3-0, but batted around and turned their deficit into a two-run lead. John Schuknecht (Cal Poly) built on his big night yesterday in Willmar and added two more hits and an RBI Monday. With runners on first and second base, Anthony Sequeira (Oral Roberts) dropped a single into left field that was passed up by outfielder Jon McAllister (Long Island) and bounced all the way to the wall. The error would take Sequeira all the way to third base and the two runners on base came around to score; the Honkers had the lead for the first time all day, 5-3.
The lead was only briefly held after Nick Highberger (Creighton) came on to relieve Kent at the start of the seventh inning. Back-to-back hits and an error to lead off the seventh brought the Bucks back within one run of the tie. Will Sparks (Washington) completed the Bucks’ come back after hitting a sacrifice fly to right field and tied the game at five.
With Highberger still on the mound in the eighth inning, the Bucks managed to push one more run across the plate and grab the lead at 6-5. That’s where it would stay in the final game of the first half for both teams.
Waterloo and Rochester were scheduled to play two games today – one at Mayo Field and one at Riverfront Stadium – but rain in northern Iowa will keep the second game today from starting and has been postponed.
Tomorrow is an off day for the Honkers before they begin their second half of the season. They’ll open the second half on Wednesday against the Duluth Huskies at Mayo Field for Custom Alarm Jersey Night. Ticket information can be found at rochesterhonkers.com.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET), Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visitwww.rochesterhonkers.com.
