Willmar Opens Up Two Game Series Against Rochester

The Matchup: The Willmar Stingers (34-12) will take on the Rochester Honkers (25-23) for a two game series in front of the home fans at Bill Taunton Stadium.

Players To Watch: Parker Stinson (Indiana State University) will be the player to watch for Willmar. Stinson was named MinnWest Technology Campus Player Of The Game on Saturday after a 2-for-3 performance which drove in four RBI.

For Rochester, Kimo Fukofuka (San Jose State University) will be the player in the spotlight. Fukofuka is batting .267 and has driven in 28 RBI with 36 hits. 2022, was Fukofuka’s first season at SJSU as he transferred from Canada College in Redwood City, California.

Tonight’s Pitchers: Sam Malec (University of Minnesota) will make his first start for Willmar in game one after being primarily a long relief guy thus far for the Stingers. Malec has made three relief appearances and has posted a 2.89 ERA and has struck out nine hitters in 9.1 innings of work. Malec was named Hemponix Reliever of the game on July 10 after a shutdown performance against the Saint Cloud Rox.

Cole Seward (Colorado Mesa University) will likely be on the hill for Rochester. Seward will make his third appearance. In 2023, Seward struck out ten batters and allowed just three total free passes. On the year, he posts a 0.75 ERA. Collegiately, Seward pitched in the NCAA Super Regional where he struck out a career high of four batters against Adams State his freshman season.

Coaching Update: Stingers fans will see a new face make trips to the mound as Josh Teichroew will be the new Willmar pitching coach as current pitching coach Michael Newstrom accepted a coaching job at Division I California State- Bakersfield of the Big West Conference. Teichroew stated “He is excited to be back, as he was the pitching coach for the 2021 Willmar Stingers season”. Josh played at Mount Mercy College and just finished his first season as the head coach of the Lancers. Willmar will be a familiar place as he has previous experience on the staff and will be coaching one of his own in Starting Pitcher Chris Rofe (Sydney, Australia).

Last Meeting: Willmar and Rochester last took the field at Mayo field where both teams have split the season series by scores of 5-4 and 13-7 in June. Game one came down to the wire as it went a total of 13 innings before the winning run was knocked in off the bat of Ben North (Creighton University) who was named Northwoods Player of the Night just three weeks ago. North will be another bat for Stingers fans to keep an eye on as he posts a .280 batting average at shortstop in 36 games this summer.

Keys to the Series:

Shut down power bats
Strike First
For Malec, continue momentum from last appearance.

Return of Payne: Infielder Kyle Payne has led the Stingers in both batting average (.353) and hits (36). Last time the speedy infielder saw the Honkers he was sidelined by a lower body injury where he missed time against Minot and Thunder Bay. Upon return “KP” as his fellow teammates call him has made a big impact that has led to much of the team’s success this season as they look to do big things in the postseason.

Offensive Explosion: Willmar has had much success at home as of late scoring 86 total runs and reaching base 145 times in six games against Minot and Minnesota.

A Look At Rochester: Stingers field manager Freddy Smith stated that Rochester is very talented. “Rochester has a lot of big school guys including Nico Regino (Cal State Fullerton), Kimo Fukofuka (San Jose State) and Catcher Griffen Sotomayor (Washington State University).” This will be a competitive series after splitting the last time these two teams faced off.

First Pitch: Both games will be played at Bill Taunton Stadium on July 18 and July 19 at 7:05.

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.