WILLMAR — Allowing 14 hits to the Waterloo Bucks, the Willmar Stingers could not string together enough of their own in their 10-4 loss Tuesday from Bill Taunton Stadium.
With the victory, Waterloo reclaimed the top spot in the Northwoods League’s Minnesota-Iowa Pod standings. St. Cloud, the division leader entering the day, fell to second place following its 1-0 loss at Mankato.
The Bucks lead the division by a half-game. Willmar is third, three-and-a-half games back.
The Stingers’ damaging blow came in the second inning. Reaching with a one-out single, Waterloo catcher Tyler Snep advanced to second base when second baseman Griffin Cheney errantly flipped a double-play ball with his glove over the head of shortstop Brooks Lee. Next, Blake Doremus made the Stingers pay for their mistake, launching a three-run home run to right-center field off starting pitcher Jack Zigan. Three batters later, Jalen Smith made it 4-0 with an RBI double.
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Loading bases with one out, Willmar got a run back in the bottom of the frame when Harrison Schnurbusch scored from third on a wild pitch. However, unable to take further advantage, the Stingers struggled throughout the night with runners on. Leaving 10 runners on base, Willmar recorded one hit with runners in scoring position, going 1-for-11.
Cheney scored in the fifth on a RBI groundout from Chase Stanke to make it 5-2. After Waterloo got a run in the sixth, he scored again in the seventh when Kyle Manzardo grounded out to second.
Lee and Cheney each had two hits.
The Bucks added four runs in the ninth, highlighted by a solo home run from Peyton Williams, who finished 4-for-5.
Zigan was hit with the loss, relinquishing six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and four walks during seven innings. Ben Olson captured the win for Waterloo. He allowed two runs on four hits and five walks through six innings.
Willmar plays at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at St. Cloud’s Joe Faber Field.
Waterloo 10,
Willmar 4
Waterloo 041 001 004-10 14 1
Willmar 010 010 101-4 6 2
Hitting - Waterloo: Ryan Guardino 2-5 r bb, Jalen Smith 1-4 2b rbo sac, Peyton Williams 4-5 r hr rbi-2, Tristan Peterson 1-4 r-2 bb, Brett McCleary 1-4 2b rbi bb, Ben Ranieri 0-0 r, Tyler Snep 2-4 2-r bb, Nathan Bandy 0-2 r rbi bb-2 sf, Blake Doremus 2-5 r hr rbi-5, Ethan Copeland 1-5 r… Willmar: Griffin Cheney 2-4 r-2 bb rbi, Brooks Lee 2-5 2b, Kyle Manzardo 1-4r rbi-2 bb, Hunter Ranweiler 0-3 bb-2, Harrison Schnurbusch 0-4 r bb, Jake Meyer 0-2 bb-2, Zane Denton 1-3 r bb
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Waterloo: Ben Olson (W, 2-0) 6-4-2-2-5-6, Kevin Lyons (Sv-1) 3-2-2-2-3-1 … Willmar: Jack Zigan (L, 1-2) 7-10-6-5-4-4, Ben Borrman 1-0-1-1-1-2, Teddy Broxterman 0.1-4-3-1-1-0, Jayson Newman 0.2-0-0-0-0-2
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