WILLMAR–The Stingers have provided plenty of late-inning heroics, but one of the most exciting wins in Willmar franchise history came on Thursday night as the Stingers stormed back from a late two-run defecit to beat the Duluth Huskies 10-9 in the tenth inning at Bill Taunton Stadium. After allowing a pair of sixth inning runs, the Stingers came up with two in the eighth to tie the game before Jordan Smith’s tenth inning triple resulted in Sean Dwyer’s game winning sac fly to left.

The Stingers true catalyst offensively on Thursday was without a doubt leadoff man Carlos Leyva who managed three hits in six trips to the plate, scored three times, and stole a Willmar record four bases in the game. the offensive output was balanced as usual, as all but one Stingers hitter managed at least one hit, run or RBI in the contest. With the win, Willmar retains a share of first place in the North Division’s second half standings, and sets a new high-water mark for the season in terms of their overall record, settling in five games over .500 at 29-24.

Next up for the Stingers, it’s the remaining two games of a three game set with Duluth, continuing Friday at 7:05 pm from Bill Taunton Stadium. As Willmar approaches the home stretch in their inaugural season, make sure to get your tickets for any and all of the nine remaining home games by calling the Stingers ticket office at 320-222-2010 or logging on to willmarstingers.com for more ticket info. As always, we remind you to check out wctrib.com for all your Stingers coverage. The 2010 season is presented by Charter.