ST. CLOUD, MINN. – Marc Flores (Hawaii) continued his remarkable hitting over the last few games with a 4-for-5 performance that lifted the Stingers to a 6-4 victory against the St. Cloud Rox. The victory was the fourth straight for Willmar, setting a new season high for consecutive wins.

  Flores delivered a pair of doubles and drove in three runs, finishing the game with a .356 batting average, exactly .100 percentage points higher than it was before the Stingers’ winning streak began. The offensive firestorm produced by Flores over the last four games has included two home runs, a .625 batting average and five RBI.

  The performance by Flores, however, was not the team’s only source of offense. Cal-Berkley first baseman Nick Halamandaris pounced on a 3-1 pitch from Rox pitcher Reese Gregory, recording his first home run of the season. The two-run shot gave Willmar four runs in the fifth inning and the 5-1 lead was all the Stingers needed to improve their league-best record.

  A solid pitching debut for Nick Bates (St. Louis) keyed the Stingers early on. Bates threw five solid innings, allowing just six hits and two runs to depart from St. Cloud with a 1-0 record and a 3.68 ERA.

  After Bates’ departure from the game, the Stingers used five arms in their bullpen to close the show. Sheldon Lee (San Francisco) made his second relief appearance on the season in the sixth, throwing a shutout inning while allowing only a single hit. Josh Matheson (MSU-Mankato) then followed suit with a scoreless seventh as the Stingers took a 6-2 lead into the eighth inning.

  But the home team mounted a rally in the final inning before Zack Tillery (Florida Gulf Coast) came on the earn his first save of the season in just his second relief outing. Tillery inherited a runner at second with nobody out and lead down to 6-4l and after permitting a leadoff walk, the right-hander struck out one and coaxed a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

  The 2013 season is presented by Charter. For more on your Willmar Stingers, please visit www.wctrib.com