Willmar, Minn. — It was the biggest crowd Bill Taunton Stadium has seen in its six years as the home of the Willmar Stingers.
But with a record-setting 1,893 fans in attendance, the Stingers bats fell silent in a 5-2 loss to Madison, as the Mallards became just the second team to sweep the Stingers at home this season.
After neither team scored in the first inning, the two teams traded runs in the second inning. Madison (25-17) got a home run from Collin Theroux in the top of the second to make it 1-0. But the Stingers got the run right back in the bottom of the second inning, with Sean Beesley plating Eddie Estrada from third with his RBI single to knot the score.
It looked like the game was headed for an offensive showdown after the Mallards scored two more times in the very next inning, but both offenses settled down the rest of the way. Those two, third inning runs for Madison proved too much for the Stingers to overcome, and the Mallards tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh inning to make it a 5-1 advantage.
Willmar tried to battle back in the bottom of the ninth inning, and made things interesting with two outs. Sean Beesley singled with two gone in the ninth and then stole second base with Dan Motl at the plate. Motl singled Beesley home to bring the deficit within three, but Reagan Fowler grounded out to end the threat and the game.
Willmar continues its six-day homestand tomorrow with the first of two games against the Rochester Honkers. Thursday night is Relay For Life Night, and the Stingers will wear commemorative jerseys. There will be a silent auction throughout the game for a select numbers of those jerseys, which will be signed.
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.
Tonight’s Center for Diagnostic Imaging player of the game was Sean Beesley. 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 Willmar Stingers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.willmarstingers.com.
