WILLMAR, MN- The Waterloo Bucks (24-13) rallied late but fell short in the first game of the second half 6-5 to the Willmar Stingers (20-17) on Wednesday, July 5.

The Bucks got off to another hot start as Tyler Stover drove in two runs with a double to right field in the top of the first inning. Brandon Gutzler added his second run-scoring single of the year to put the Bucks ahead 3-0 after the first inning.

Willmar got on the board on a solo homer over the left field wall by Josh Bissionette. Zachary Patterson (1-3) was knocked out of the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the third. Alec Hernandez was summoned out of the bullpen and he balked allowing a run to score. During the same at-bat Tyler Reichenborn lined a two-run single up the middle helping the Stingers grab a 4-3 lead.

Luke Becker led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo shot of his own and one of Brady Shockey's four singles brought around another run making it a 6-3 Stingers advantage after four inning.

The game became a little more interesting in the top of the seventh when Keaton Presley cranked a two-run homer to left center making it a one-run ballgame.

Nick Lackney lasted (1-1) lasted as long as he could before Connor Jahn (1) went the rest of the way for the save including striking out the final batter when the Bucks had the game tying run in scoring position.

The Stingers start out the second half in the win column and play host to the Bucks tomorrow, July 6 at 7:05 p.m.

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The Waterloo Bucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.waterloobucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Bucks as your favorite team.