Honkers Rally Falls Short in 8-4 Loss to St. Cloud

ST. CLOUD, MN -- After a big win against Mankato last night, the Honkers (4-7) had a chance to build some momentum and get a game closer to .500, but they were unable to capitalize in 8-4 loss to the St. Cloud Rox (6-5).

Errors doomed the Honkers once again as they committed four leading to seven unearned runs.

The Honkers defensive woes started in the first when third baseman Jed Sprague flubbed what would've been the final out of the inning allowing the first run of the game to score.

In the third Honkers starter Jackson Douglas (L, 0-1) allowed his only unearned run on a Luke Ringhofer RBI single making the game 2-0.

In the fourth inning the Honkers had two more errors that allowed four unearned runs to score. The first was committed by Douglas on a single by Drew Freedman, who was driven in on a sac fly by TJ Fried making it 3-0l. The second error of the inning once again occurred on what could been the final out of the inning when Keaton Weisz's error allowed Ringhofer to reach first. This second error allowed Ben Peterson to come to the plate with runners on first and third, and he hit the second pitch he saw from Douglas into the seat for his a three-run home run to make it 6-0.

The Rox then tacked on two more unearned runs in the fifth off of reliever Robert Paccione to make it 8-0.

Through seven innings the Honkers offensively were held to only one hit as Rox starter Matt Shannon in his first Northwoods League start went seven shutout innings striking out nine and walking three before giving way to Aaron Rozek in the eighth

The eighth saw the Honkers make a push to bring themselves back into the game by scoring four runs. The first game on a Troy Traxler two-run single driving in Christopher Scalisi and Jed Sprague. Miles Lewis then drove in Bryce Marquardt to make the game 8-3. The Honkers were able to add one more on Alex Fitchett's RBI single that drove in Troy Traxler but Alex Thoreson hit into a double play to end the inning and the Honkers threat.

In the ninth, the Honkers had the tying run on deck with Keaton Weisz at the plate, but he grounded into a double play to end the game.

The Honkers look to bounce back in the second game against St. Cloud tomorrow night as they play at 6:05 PM.