The second-half of the Northwoods League season has not been kind to the Willmar Stingers thus far.
After opening the second half with a pair of shutout losses in Duluth, the Stingers’ offensive punch was missing again in a 2-1 loss at St. Cloud on Friday night.
The Stingers and Rox were tied 1-1 after 8-1/2 innings but in the bottom of the ninth, Brendan Tinsman led off with a single and pinch runner Brady Harlan reached third on Zack Elliott’s one-out single. Ben Carew then singled in Harlan with the winning run,
The Stingers managed their lone run in the second inning when Noah Haupt singled with one out and eventually came around on James Gamble’s RBI single with two outs.
That, for all intents and purposes, was it, offensively. The Stingers had just two more hits the rest of the way against five Rox pitchers, who collectively struck out 11 Stingers.
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Willmar starter Bradley Kinsey allowed a run on six hits in 6-1/3 innings, and reliever Bryant Claunch took the loss, allowing a run on three hits in two innings.
The Stingers clinched the division first-half crown with a 5-3 win in the first game of a doubleheader against Bismarck on Tuesday. But they’ve lost four straight since then and have been outscored 23-2, despite collecting 24 hits -- six hits per game -- during the losing streak. The team had 17 hits in 1-0 and 7-0 losses in Duluth on Wednesday and Thursday.
Willmar will attempt to get untracked against the Rox in a 7:05 p.m. game Saturday at Bill Taunton Stadium. Mankato is in town at 5:05 p.m. Sunday for the start of a home-and-home two-game set that resumes at 6:35 p.m. Monday in Mankato.
