Willmar Begins Home-and-Home Series Against Saint Cloud

The Matchup: The Willmar Stingers (27-11) will take on Great Plains Division front runners in the Saint Cloud Rox (26-14) for a home-and-home series on July 10 and July 11.

Players To Watch: Jackson Hauge (Minnesota State- Mankato) will be the player to watch for the Rox. Hauge leads the team in RBI (29) and doubles (8) and is third on the team with a .304 batting average.

Sean Rimmer (University of Hawaii) will be the player to watch for the Stingers. Yesterday against Mankato, Rimmer had a 3-for-4 performance with 4 RBI. On the season, Rimmer is batting .258 with 25 hits.

Kelley Welcomed To Willmar: Jack Kelley will be added to the Willmar rotation. Kelley spent his spring season at Palomar College in San Marcos, California where he struck out 20 batters in 15 appearances.

Tonight’s Starting Pitchers: Gavin Jacobson (Bethany Lutheran College) will make his second appearance of the season for the Rox. Jacobson struck out six batters and allowed one hit in 3.0 innings.

Willmar fans will likely see Andrew Baumgart (North Dakota State University). Baumgart currently posts a 5.27 ERA and will make his ninth appearance. This season, he struck out four batters and allowed 17 hits in 13.2 innings of work.

Keys To The Series:

Shut down Hauge (is batting .304 in 34 games played)

Close out Games (bullpen has allowed runs in late innings)

Set the tone (score first; only game at home in four days)

Last Meeting: Willmar split a two game series with the Rox in late June. The first game of this series was played at Knute Nelson field where Willmar fell in extra innings by a score of 5-4. Willmar took the next game with infielder Stone Miyao (University of Hawaii) having a stellar performance in game two for the Stingers.

First Pitch: Game 1 will be at 7:05 at Bill Taunton Stadium. Game 2 will be played at 6:35 at Joe Faber Field in Saint Cloud, Minn.

For more coverage of the Stingers, visit the West Central Tribune online at www.wctrib.com.

The 2023 season is presented by J.D. Kreps Financial Group, empowering investors with powerful financial advice.

The Willmar Stingers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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, over 325 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.willmarstingers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Stingers as your favorite team.