WILLMAR, Minn. — The Stingers offense has been molten in the month of July, and they kept up their torrid pace on Saturday night in an 8-1 win over the Rockford Rivets at Bill Taunton Stadium. 

Willmar (32-25, 14-7 second half) smashed three home runs and got eight innings of one-run ball from Brad Schaenzer (Kentucky) to beat the Rivets (27-30, 10-11) in the first-ever meeting between the two teams, putting the Stingers a season-high seven games over .500. 

Having already hit 18 of their 27 home runs in the month of July, the Stingers used the long ball to overcome an early deficit against Rockford. Willmar trailed 1-0 after the top of the third inning, but Dylan Woods (Nova Southeastern) blasted a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to quickly tie the score at one. 

Then the Stingers scored twice more in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead for good. With two outs and no one on in the fourth inning, Eddie Estrada (Minnesota) singled to keep the inning alive. That single proved crucial, as Kole Cottam (Kentucky) followed a batter later with a booming two-run shot over the left-field wall, giving Willmar a 3-1 edge. 

Cottam's Kentucky teammate Schaenzer was sharp all night long, and he went a personal-best eight innings for his second-straight win. Schaenzer scattered eight hits, and despite striking out just one batter, he had his best pitches in big spots, stranding eight men on base. 

The Stingers added four more runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of reach. Brandon Perez (USC) extended his season-high hitting streak to five games with a two-run single in the inning. Danny Mayer (Pacific) knocked in his second run of the game with an RBI single after he had a solo homer in the sixth inning. His two-hit night extended his on-base streak to 25 games, the longest such streak for the Stingers this summer. 

Tonight’s Center for Diagnostic Imaging player of the game was Brad Schaenzer. 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.

Willmar will go for the series sweep against Rockford at 6:05 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday is Trading Card Giveaway Night, and the first 500 fans will get a set of Stingers trading cards. 

The 2016 Stingers season is presented by Marcus Construction. For more coverage of the Stingers visit the West Central Tribune online at www.wctrib.com.