Written by Dain Solberg
Photo Courtesy of Dennis Benson
The Matchup: The Willmar Stingers (37-13) will take on the Thunder Bay Border Cats (22-28) for a two-game series at home inside the friendly confines of Bill Taunton Stadium on Veterans night.
Players To Watch: The player to watch for Willmar is infielder Kevin Fitzer (California State Northridge). Fitzer has a .285 batting average and leads the Stingers in three categories that include hits (47), home runs (9) and doubles (13). Fitzer plays alongside another CSUN standout in Andrew Sojka.
Daylan Pena (Texas State University) is in the spotlight for Thunder Bay. Pena leads the Border Cats in batting average (.313) and has collected 27 hits in 17 games this season.
Tonight’s Pitchers: Luke Schafer (Indiana Southeast) will be on the bump for Willmar. Schafer is a transfer from Ball State. In the Northwoods League, Schafer has posted a 2.08 ERA and has struck out eight hitters and allowed six free passes in 8.2 innings of work.
For Thunder Bay, Jack Pineau (Creighton University) got the nod from pitching coach Nolan Atkins. Coming into tonight’s contest Pineau posts a 4.50 ERA and has struck out 29 hitters and allowed 19 free passes in 36.0 total innings.
Last Meeting: The Stingers last traveled to Ontario and came back to the United States going 2 for 3 throughout the series winning both games 3-2 and dropping the first meeting 10-6.
Keys To The Series:
- Lean on Power bats.
- Schafer staying consistent.
- Contain Pena (batting .313)
A Look At TB: Last time out the Border Cats dropped a contest to the Rochester Honkers by a score of 5-2. They have a deep lineup that include power bats in Trey Lewis (University of Southern Alabama), Zane Skansi (Creighton University), and Logan Johnstone (Washington State University).
First Pitch: This weekend will be a two-game series with game one taking place at 7:05 CT and game two being played at 5:05 CT. Both contests will be played at Bill Taunton Stadium.
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.
