Northwoods League: Stingers end first half strong

Joe Brown, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·6 min read

Jul. 5—BISMARCK, N.D. — The Willmar Stingers wrapped up the first half of the Northwoods League season on a hot streak.

Wrapping up a four-game series with the Bismarck Larks, the Stingers won their third straight with a 6-2 victory Monday at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark.

Winner of eight of its last 10 games, Willmar finished second in the Great Plains West Division with a 21-13 record.

In front of a crowd of 1,301 on Monday, the Stingers opened the game with a pair of first-inning runs off the bat of Will Hodo. On a 1-2 count, the University of Alabama freshman hit a two-run home run to right field. He finished the game 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

After Bismarck tied the game in the fourth, the Stingers put up four runs in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Brett Bateman broke the tie after reaching home on a wild pitch. Willmar High School grad Drey Dirksen followed with a three-run homer to left, his seventh round-tripper of the season. He finished the game 3-for-4.

Dirksen, a sophomore from Augustana, wrapped up the first half with a .324 average with 29 RBIs and 22 runs scored.

Making his first start of the season, Jack Zigan got the win after striking out seven with two unearned runs, four hits and two walks allowed over five innings. He is a senior from Minnesota State-Mankato by way of Eden Prairie.

Lucas Samuels struck out eight in four innings to get the save. Samuels is a sophomore from the University of Montevallo (Alabama).

The league has an off day Tuesday. Willmar begins the second half at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday on the road against the St. Cloud Rox.

Willmar 200 040 000-6 7 3

Bismarck 001 100 000-2 7 0

Hitting — Willmar: Brett Bateman 1-4 r, Joey Walls 1-4 r, Will Hodo 1-3 hr r-2 rbi-2 bb, Drey Dirksen 3-4 hr r rbi-3, JT Navyac 1-4, Kyle Payne 0-4 r hbp ... Bismarck: Luke Glascoe 3-5 r sb-2, Aaron Mann 2-4 2b rbi, Jackson Beaman 1-4, Tommy Takayoshi 1-4, Jake Hjelle 0-4 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Willmar: Jack Zigan (W, 1-0) 5-4-2-0-2-7, Logan Samuels (Sv, 2) 4-3-0-0-1-8 ... Bismarck: Austin Luther V (L, 0-3) 5-5-6-6-3-5, Luke Hempel 3-2-0-0-0-1, Julio Romero 1-0-0-0-0-0

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, a diving catch by center fielder Brett Bateman sealed a win for the Willmar Stingers over the Bismarck Larks in front of 1,352 fans at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark.

Along with the game-sealing catch, Bateman was 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and two stolen bases. Bateman is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota from Arden Hills.

Drey Dirksen drove the ball out of the park with a two-run home run in the top of the third inning.

Andrew Baumgart, a Willmar High School grad and North Dakota State freshman, started the game. He struck out five with four runs, six hits and two walks allowed over 4-1/3 innings. Reliever Steven Brooks was credited with the win after tossing three innings. John Bezdicek got his third save of the year after 1-2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Willmar 022 012 000-7 8 3

Bismarck 002 111 100-6 9 0

Hitting — Willmar: Brett Bateman 2-4 r rbi bb sb-2, Will Hodo 1-3 2b r bb-2, Drey Dirksen 1-3 hr r rbi-2 hbp, Josh Fitzgerald 1-3 r bb sb, Will Busch 2-4 rbi, Kyle Payne 1-3 r rbi bb sb, Jakob Christian 0-3 r rbi bb sf, Will Safford 0-3 r bb ... Bismarck: Luke Glascoe 2-4 r rbi bb sb, Aaron Mann 2-4 r-2 bb, Spencer Sarringar 2-5 hr r rbi-2, Jackson Beaman 2-4 rbi bb, Enrique Morales 1-3 r sh, Reggie Williams 0-5 rbi, Jake Hjelle 0-5 rbi, Khalid Collymore 0-2 r hbp-2 sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Willmar: Andrew Baumgart 4.1-6-4-4-2-5, Steven Brooks (W, 1-0) 3-2-2-1-1-4, John Bezdicek (Sv, 3) 1.2-1-0-0-0-1 ... Bismarck: Seth Brewer (L, 2-4) 5-6-5-5-3-5, Andrew Paten 1-1-2-2-3-0, Will Chauffe 1-0-0-0-1-1, Josh Combs 1-1-0-0-0-0, Ryan Bourassa 1-0-0-0-0-1

A four-run top of the sixth inning secured a win for the Willmar Stingers against the Bismarck Larks at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark.

The crowd of 1,350 saw Willmar score all four of its runs with two outs. With Willmar down 1-0, Will Hodo scored the Stingers' first run after an error at third base. Jakob Christian put Willmar ahead after reaching home on a wild pitch.

Jake Entrekin put the Stingers ahead by three with a single to center field that brought home Zac Corbin and Aidan Byrne. Entrekin, a freshman from Point Loma Nazarene University (California) is hitting .278 in five games this season.

Jack Habeck improved his record to 5-0 after holding the Larks to one run on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts over six innings. The St. Cloud State sophomore from Appleton, Wisconsin has a 1.54 ERA over 41 innings this season.

Willmar 000 004 000-4 7 2

Bismarck 100 000 100-2 8 3

Hitting — Willmar: Will Hodo 1-4 r bb, Jakob Christian 2-3 r bb hbp sb, Zac Corbin 2-4 r bb sb, Jake Entrekin 2-4 rbi-2, Aidan Byrne 0-4 r sb ... Bismarck: Luke Glascoe 1-4 bb, Enrique Morales 1-4 bb, Jackson Beaman 2-4 2b r hbp, Garrett Macias 1-5 2b rbi, Kaiden Cardoso 1-4, Khalid Collymore 2-4 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Willmar: Jack Habeck (W, 5-0) 6-5-1-1-1-3, Caleb Saari 1-2-1-1-0-1, Dylan Matela (Sv, 3) 2-1-0-0-3-3 ... Bismarck: Morgan McCloud (L, 1-2) 5.2-2-2-0-3-6, Jake Lynch 0.1-2-2-0-1-0, Stephen Klenske 2-2-0-0-1-1, Kevin Wiseman 1-1-0-0-0-3