Northwoods League: Willmar Stingers finish with a victory
Aug. 16—WILLMAR — The Willmar Stingers' offense made for a fond farewell to the 2021 season on Saturday.
Hosting the Eau Claire Express in the regular-season finale, Willmar went off for 14 hits in an 11-8 Northwoods League victory in front of 912 fans at Bill Taunton Stadium.
With the victory, the Stingers conclude the second half at .500 with a 16-16 record (32-36 overall).
Willmar opened with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Will Hamiter had an RBI single before eventually scoring on a fielder's choice. Two more runs came across on a Tate Meiners single.
Three more runs came in during the second. Hamiter came through again with an RBI double, followed by one-run singles by Derek Hackman and Matthew Enck.
Hamiter, a redshirt freshman from Alabama, finished 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs. He finished first in the Stingers' lineup and fourth in the Northwoods League with a .353 average in 49 games. Hamiter also led Willmar in RBIs (37), doubles (13) and walks (34).
Christopher Campos was also a focal point of the Stingers' offense. The St. Mary's College (California) junior was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.
George Arias, a sophomore from Arizona, got the win after holding Eau Claire scoreless with four strikeouts through 2-1/3 innings in a relief appearance. In 11 appearances this summer, Arias was 3-2 with one save while sporting a 4.38 ERA with 32 strikeouts.
The Express scored three runs in the top of the seventh and had runners on second and third before Willmar's John Klein got three straight outs to get out of the inning. In the ninth, Dylan Matela got three strikeouts to lock up the save.
Willmar 11,
Eau Claire 8
Eau Claire 010 400 300- 8 9 1
Willmar 430 211 00x-11 14 2
Hitting — Eau Claire: Drew Lechnir 3-3 bb sh, Nick Marinconz 1-5 rbi-2, Ryan Lin-Peistrup 1-1 r hbp, Max Blessinger 2-5 r-2 rbi, Jake Nelson 2-4 rbi-2 bb, Zach Lechnir 0-5 r bb, Carter Mize 0-4 r-2 hbp, Hamilton Anderson 0-2 r-2 rbi ... Willmar: Christopher Campos 3-5 2b r-2 hbp, Will Hamiter 3-5 2b r-3 rbi-3 hbp, Derek Hackman 1-1 r-3 rbi bb-4 hbp, Jorge Lucero 1-4 r bb hbp, Asa Awbrey 2-3 r rbi bb sf sb, Tate Meiners 1-5 rbi-2, Matthew Enck 2-4 r rbi bb, Brady Counsell 1-5 rbi-2
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Eau Claire: Nick Malmberg (L, 2-3) 1-4-4-3-1-0, Garrett Nicholson 3 1/3-6-6-6-3-1, Jake Karaba 2 2/3-3-1-1-2-3, Ben Shepard 1-1-0-0-1-1 ... Willmar: Sam Malec 3 2/3-5-5-0-3-4, George Arias (W, 3-2) 2 1/3-1-0-0-3-4, John Klein 1-2-3-3-1-1, Kenten Egberg 1-0-0-0-0-3, Dylan Matela (Sv, 2) 1-1-0-0-0-3
