St. Cloud, MN – St. Cloud (22-12) beat Willmar (19-17) by a score of 2-1 in 10 innings and won the Highway 23 Series Trophy for a second consecutive year.

Trailing 1-0 in the seventh inning, the Rox tied the game. With two outs and the bases empty, Garett Delano (Mercer) singled to left field and Nick Marinconz (Cal Poly) followed with a base hit. It set up Ben Norman (Iowa), who crushed an RBI-single to center field and scored Delano.

In the top of the 10th inning, Willmar sac-bunted Chase Stanke to third base to begin the inning. Blake Stelzer (Concordia-St. Paul) then struck out Jaxon Hallmark and then worked a ground ball in the infield to end the scoring threat.

With Delano automatically starting at second base in the bottom of the 10th inning, Marinconz flew out to deep left field for the first out. It moved Delano to third base. In the next at-bat, Jack Winkler (San Francisco) singled up the middle and scored Delano to win the game.

Trent Schoeberl (Minnesota) started the game and struck out four batters over five innings pitched. Josh Gainer (LIU-Brooklyn) tossed three innings in relief and didn’t allow a run. Blake Stelzer (Concordia-St. Paul) earned his third win of the season after throwing the final two innings.

St. Cloud looks to complete the sweep on Thursday against the Willmar Stingers. First pitch at Bill Taunton Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 pm.

The Rox will be back at home on Sunday, August 16th against the Mankato MoonDogs. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:05 pm.

If you would like more information on tickets for the 2020 season, or more information regarding this press release,  please contact the Rox front office at 320-240-9798 or visit stcloudrox.com.

The St. Cloud Rox 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. Having completed its 26th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 230 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 World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile.