Willmar, Minn. — The Stingers were down, but they were no where near out of it.
After trailing Duluth 5-0 after the top half of the first inning, Willmar came all the way back to tie the game at sixth in the eighth. But the Huskies (9-4) came back with two runs of their own in the top half of the night, and another Stingers rally in the last of the ninth came up short in a 8-7 loss Monday night.
It all came down to the ninth inning after the Stingers tied it with an RBI triple by Dan Motl in the bottom of the eighth. With two on and two out in the ninth, the Huskies Cal Stevenson singled through the right side. One run came in from third on the play and the runner from first scored as well with Stevenson caught in a run down between first and second before the final tag was made.
Storm Wilson hit a moonshot in the bottom of the ninth to bring the Stingers within one. But that second run the Huskies had scored in the top of the ninth proved to be too much to overcome for the Stingers, who had already come back from their largest deficit of the season.
Willmar scored on several occasions throughout the night to trim the Huskies deficit. After single runs in the first and third, the Stingers got a three-run sixth inning to make it a 6-5 contest. They made the most of three walks and three hits in the inning to cut the Huskies' advantage to one.
The Stingers continue their homestand tomorrow when they welcome the Rochester Honkers into the Beehive for a two-game set. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.
Tonight’s Center for Diagnostic Imaging player of the game was Dan Motl. CDI is your local medical imaging provider. It’s your choice where you go for medical imaging, for MRI, CT, mammograms and pain injections, choose CDI. Visit online at myCDI.com/CentralMN.
The 2015 Stingers season is presented by Marcus Construction. For more coverage of the Stingers visit the West Central Tribune online at www.wctrib.com.
