THUNDER BAY, Ontario — The Rochester Honkers beat Thunder Bay for the second straight night Northwoods League baseball with a wild 12-11 win on Tuesday.
Both teams came out swinging early in this one. The Honkers offense jumped out with five runs in the top of the first only to surrender seven runs to the Border Cats in the bottom half of the inning.
The Border Cats put two more on the board in the bottom of the second inning to go ahead 9-5, but the Honkers would rally.
The Honkers scored four more in the top of the third sparked by a solo home run from first baseman Chad Wallach (Cal State Fullerton). Wallach finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBIs. The Honkers lineup would score three more in the frame to tie it 9-9.
Honkers designated hitter Trevor Podratz (Hawaii) then provided the key hit in the eighth inning. He belted his team-leading seventh home run of the season with a runner on base to put the Honkers up 12-11. The Honkers tied the series at 2-2 with one more to play.
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The Honkers offense banged out 19 hits in the victory.
Rochester leftfielder Justin Parr (Illinois) went 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs and centerbfielder Dakota Smith (Kansas) finished 3-for-6.
The final game of the five-game series from Thunder Bay is today at 6 p.m. Starting for the Honkers (15-19) will be right-hander Carl O'Neal (St. Mary’s, Texas. He will oppose Thunder Bay (15-19) starter Matt Cooper (Bellevue). O’Neal is 0-1 in six appearances with a 5.82 ERA. Cooper is 0-0 record in four appearances with a 4.50 ERA.
The Honkers return home Saturday at 7:05 p.m. when they battle the Willmar Stingers.
