Written by Dain Solberg

Photo Courtesy of Dennis Benson

The Matchup: The Willmar Stingers (42-16) will stay in Bismarck after Great Plains All-Star festivities and take on divisional opponent the Bismarck Larks (23-37) for a two-game series on August 3rd and 4th.

Players To Watch: Drey Dirksen (Augustana University) is batting .314 and has 43 hits and 34 RBI’s for Willmar this season. Dirksen will be coming off of an All Star weekend where he made appearances in the Great Plains Home Run Challenge and the All-Star game.

Jack Herring (Rollins College) will be the player in the spotlight for the Larks. Herring posts a .342 batting average and hits (52) and doubles (13). 

Tonight’s Pitchers: Ethan Stade (Minnesota State-Mankato) will be on the bump for Willmar. Stade (0-0) will make his sixth appearance this summer. This season, he posts a 3.38 ERA and has struck out 12 batters and has walked 10 in 13.1 innings.

Murphy Bostick (Grayson College) will get the call from Larks field manager Will Flynt. Bostick (0-1) will be making his fourth appearance of the season. Bostick posts a 9.24 ERA and struck out eight hitters and allowed 11 free passes in 12.2 innings of work.

Last Meeting: The Stingers split the last series out against the Larks in late June at Bill Taunton Stadium. In game one, they were defeated by a narrow 7-6 margin after Bismarck was led by a strong performance from Ben Rosengard (Rice University) who drove in the game winning run in the 9th. Willmar bounced back in game two routing the Larks 13-1 and an outing where runs were driven in by eight different Stinger hitters en route to the victory. 

Keys To The Series:

• Regroup after break 
• Top of the order (Fitzer, Miyao, Rimmer)
• Strong Starts from Rotation

First Pitch: Both contests will be played at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark inside of Dakota Community Bank and Trust Field. Game one will be played at 6:35 and game two will take place at 7:05. (C.T)

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.

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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.