Northwoods Willmar Stingers

Bucks Cap Improbable Win in 10th

Published on July 17, 2013 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Willmar Stingers News Release


Waterloo, Iowa -- The Stingers gave the first-place Waterloo Bucks all they could handle and then some. Jumping out to an early 4-0 lead, Willmar positioned itself to upend the seemingly invulnerable Bucks who had lost just once in the entire month of July. However, the Bucks provided proof-positive that when you're hot, you're hot.

The Bucks pulled one out of the fire in extra innings to deal an agonizing loss to the Stingers who had come back to the tie the game in regulation and then took a lead in the top of the 10th inning. The scoring for Willmar began in the first inning when Alec Solé (St. Louis) walked to lead off the game and scored on a Marc Flores double. Logan Moon (Missouri Southern) singled and scored on a sacrifice-squeeze by Solé in the 2nd. The Stingers roughed up Waterloo starter TJ Renda early, chasing him from the game after just two innings.

It was Nick Halamandaris, the CDI player of the game, who gave the Stingers a more commanding lead in the 3rd inning with a two-run homer. The round-tripper was Halamandaris' fourth of the season. Halamandaris has been squaring up on the ball the last few games in particular, but has routinely had the misfortune of hitting the ball directly at opposing fielders; this home run assured that no one in a Bucks uniform could do anything about it.

The Bucks rallied, however, scoring two runs in the 4th and three runs in the 6th to take an improbable 5-4 lead. Stingers starting pitcher Drew Jacobs (San Diego) pitched well over 3.2 innings and was removed from the game due to a pre-determined pitch limit. Jacobs, though, would not factor into the decision.

The Stingers responded a half inning after the Bucks took the lead. Michael Suchy (Florida Gulf Coast) drew a two-out walk, Max Kuhn (Kentucky) singled to right and Halamandaris - on his most pedestrian batted ball of the game - dropped one down the line in shallow left to score Suchy.

Bobby McCormack pitched a 1-2-3 7th inning despite wearing a line drive on his right calf against the first batter he faced. John Ziznewski lined a 1-1 pitch right back up the middle that caromed off McCormack's leg to a resting place halfway between the mound and first base. McCormack (Baylor) made a gritty, determined play to get to the ball with an obvious limp just in time to record the out. McCormack, running on adrenaline, assured the coaching staff that he was ok to finish the inning and did so with another groundout and a strikeout, using just five pitches in that span.

The Bucks pulled out the win in the 10th inning with the sort of play one might expect to see from a team on such a roll as Waterloo. Will Sparks flared a ball over first base just inside the line for a double the tied the game at 6-6 and then Blake Hickman hit a slow-roller with one out to bring the winning run home from third. Never flashy, always effective; the Bucks pulled a victory away from Willmar in heart-breaking fashion.

NOTES: Kuhn continues to rake in the month of July as the third baseman record another pair of doubles, finished 3-for-5 on the game. Kuhn has raised his average from .283 to .317 over the last four games with a home run and six doubles in that span. The Stingers lost in extra innings for the first time this season and are now 0-4 against Waterloo during the 2013 campaign.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Northwoods League Stories from July 17, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central