Willmar Opens Up Final Home Stand Of Season Against Minot

The Matchup: The Willmar Stingers (45-16) will begin a four-game home stand that begins against the Minot Hot Tots (16-45). Willmar, will be welcomed by the home fans at Bill Taunton stadium as they have been in Bismarck and Eau Claire for the last four games.

Players To Watch: Kevin Fitzer (California State Northridge) will be the guy to watch for Stinger fans as he comes off of hitting 11 home runs in the Home Run Challenge that took place in Bismarck. Fitzer goes into the series after being named the MinnWest Technology Campus Player of the game after a 2-for-5 performance which drove in two RBI including a go-ahead solo shot late in the contest. On the year, Fitzer has a .310 batting average and has tallied 55 RBI in 53 games.

The power bat of Drew Woodcox (Texas Tech) has been the star for Minot the whole season. WoodCox had two grand slams in the last series against Willmar. The Great Plains All-Star is batting .336 with 51 hits throughout 152 at-bats. Woodcox batted .271 for the Red Raiders and spent his sophomore year at Rice University. Woodcox was also a participant in the All-Star game festivities which included the Home Run Challenge.

Another familiar name on the Hot Tot roster is Drew’s brother Wilson Woodcox (Temple University). The redshirt freshman has a batting average of .415 which includes 17 hits and eight RBI in 11 games (41 at-bats).

Magic Number is 4: The Stingers will finish out the last regular season home-stand before traveling to Eau Claire for the second time in two weeks. This will finish out the Great Plains regular season before being a potential host for the Great Plains Division Playoffs in the coming days.

Tonight’s Pitchers: Kayden Camacho (Bismarck State College) will be on the hill for the Hots Tots. Camacho (0-1) will make his fifth appearance of the season and posts a 10.03 ERA and has seven strikeouts and has allowed seven free passes in 11.2 innings of work this season.

Chris Rofe (Mount Marty University) will get the call from pitching coach Josh Teichroew. Rofe (5-0) will make his 14th appearance of the season and posts a 1.91 ERA and has 43 strikeouts and has given up 26 free passes through 37.2 innings this season.

Last Meeting: Willmar swept a four game series with Minot at Bill Taunton Stadium by scores of 13-12, 12-8, 14-3 and 15-3. They will look to carry over that success this week as they host the Hot Tots for the second series of 2023.

Keys To The Series:

Power Bats (Fitzer, Sojka).
Shutdown Pitching.
Small Ball- move over runners.

First Pitch: Both games will be played at 7:05 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.

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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.