{"id":20178,"date":"2026-07-29T21:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T02:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/waterloo-bucks\/?p=20178"},"modified":"2026-07-29T21:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T02:15:08","slug":"berzonski-was-brilliant-bucks-handle-honkers-8-2-in-season-finale-with-rochester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/waterloo-bucks\/2026\/07\/29\/berzonski-was-brilliant-bucks-handle-honkers-8-2-in-season-finale-with-rochester\/","title":{"rendered":"Berzonski Was Brilliant, Bucks Handle Honkers 8-2 in Season Finale with Rochester"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rochester, MN – Nate Berzonski twirled a gem for Waterloo in his best outing of the season, going 7.1 innings pitched and struck out eight Honkers on the way to his third win of the season. Collin Brightwell and Caleb Parker backed him up, each hitting their first home runs of the year as the Bucks handled the Honkers 8-2 in the final meeting between the two teams in 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

After losing big on Tuesday night, the Bucks powered up to take an early lead. Larry Edwards was hit by a pitch to start the game, then Collin Brightwell crunched his first home run of the year to make it 2-0. Next up, Caleb Parker pummeled his first home run of the year to go back-to-back to push the lead to 3-0. Now with one away, Jake Slade was hit by a pitch and scored from first on Jack Coluzzi\u2019s RBI double to grow the lead to 4-0.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After that, the starting pitchers settled in. The Honkers right-hander, Matt Milke, went scoreless after the first and ended his day with 6.2 innings pitched and six strikeouts. The Bucks righty Nate Berzonski was even better. A season high 7.1 IP and gave up just one run, and struck out a season-high eight Honkers hitters en route to his third win of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Rochester got on the board with a Nick Bowron solo home run to chip away at the lead, 4-1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the top of the seventh, Waterloo got that run back. With two down in the frame, two walks and a single loaded the bases before Slade was hit by a pitch to force a run in to make it 5-1.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the top of the eighth, the Bucks grabbed some insurance runs. Coluzzi led off with a double, then moved up to third on a sac bunt. Next man up, Tayvon Homolar ripped a double to right to score Coluzzi to make it 6-1. One batter later, Edwards singled before he moved up to second on a steal. With two in scoring position, Brightwell grounded out to bring in a run to make it 7-1. Now with two outs, Parker laced a single to right to let Edwards score easily to make it 8-1.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the win, Waterloo goes to 25-35 overall and 11-5 in the second half of the season. Up next on the docket, the Bucks host Fond Du Lac for the first time in the two teams’ franchise history. First pitch is slated for 6:35 on Thursday night. Both starters in the game are TBD.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Game Box Score<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n