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February 1, 2012

Ducks Migrate East for the Summer

(Rochester, MN)—A small flock of Oregon Ducks will be migrating east this summer to play for the Rochester Honkers. University of Oregon junior Ryan Hambright, sophomore Kyle Garlick, and freshman Scott Heineman will bring their talents to the Northwoods League this coming May. The Honkers have enjoyed the presence of Ducks players ever since the 2008-09 season, when the program ended a 26-year absence from intercollegiate competition.

Hambright, a 6’2”, 195-pound utility player/RHP from Corona, California is returning for his third consecutive year with the Honkers. Last summer, Hambright played most of the season with an arm injury before having surgery at the end of the summer. For the Honkers in 2011, Hambright played in 46 games with a .266 batting average with 2 home runs and 19 RBIs. At Oregon in 2011, he hit .189, largely due to the hurt elbow he suffered for the entire year. Hambright enjoyed a healthy and productive season in 2010 for the Honkers. For the season, he hit .364 with 4 homers and 28 RBIs in only 32 games played. His .364 batting average was the highest on the team. Hambright also pitched in relief in 5 games, posting a 1-1 record with 7 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work.

Kyle Garlick is a 6’1”, 190-pound outfielder from Chino Hills, California. In his freshman year in 2011 at Oregon, Garlick was forced to miss the first 15 games of the season due to a broken hand injury. When he returned to the field, Garlick played in 32 games (started in 24) and hit .250 with 2 homeruns and 21 RBIs. In just his second collegiate career at-bat, Garlick hit a three-run home run to help beat San Diego on March 19^th. A solid defender, Garlic did not commit one error in the outfield in all of 2011.

Scott Heineman is a 5’9”, 185-pound infielder/RHP from Pacific Palisades, California. Heineman will be playing in his first collegiate baseball season this spring. As a senior at Crespi High School in 2011, Heineman hit .358, with 4 home runs and 19 RBIs. As a pitcher the same year, Heineman finished with a 2-1 record and 2.33 ERA in 27 total innings.

January 26, 2012

Honkers Sign Switch-Hitting Machine

(Rochester, MN)—The Rochester Honkers have made it official with the signing of Dustin Torchio, a switch-hitting junior infielder from the University of the Pacific. Dustin is a 5’10” 160-pound, Santa Cruz, California native, who was selected as a first team All Big West Conference player in just his first full collegiate season.

As merely a sophomore last year at Pacific, Torchio lead the Tigers and the entire Big West Conference in batting average (.369). His 72 hits were good for fifth in the Big West, and his .419 on-base percentage ranked eighth in the conference. Torchio racked up an impressive 26 multi-hit games, meaning he collected at least two hits in exactly half of the number of games he started (52).

Torchio’s numbers for conference play were even more impressive. In 24 games against teams in the Big West, he hit an astonishing .477 with 17 runs scored, and posted an on-base percentage of .495. Dustin began the season at second base, but was switched over to third base after 19 games. After the move to the hot corner, he finished the final 33 games with a .459 batting average. For the Tigers, Torchio batted mostly out of the 2-spot in the batting order. Just to further prove how valuable of a hitter Dustin is, he also laid down 15 sacrifice bunts on the year. Torchio will be playing his first season in the Northwoods League this summer.

January 23, 2012

Honkers Add Two Jayhawks

(Rochester, MN)—The Rochester Honkers Baseball Club made it official today on the addition of two more players, both from the University of Kansas. Outfielder Dakota Smith and infielder Justin Protacio are young freshman at Kansas, and the two Jayhawks will make their Northwoods League debut this summer.

Smith is a 5’11” 180-pound freshman from Leavenworth, Kansas. He graduated from Lansing High School where he was a four-time All Sunflower League selection and was first team all-state selection his senior year. As a junior, Smith hit .500 with nine home runs, 35 RBI and 15 stolen bases. At the 2011 Connie Mack World Series in Farmington, NM, Smith was awarded the tourney’s Most Valuable Player honors as well as the Comcast Big Stick award. He was ranked as the No. 25 high school outfielder in 2011 by the Baseball Draft Report.

Protacio is a speedy 5’6” 160-pound freshman from Pearl City, HI. He played high school ball at the Mid Pacific Institute and was a three-time all-state selection and an All-Interscholastic League First Team selection three consecutive years. In 2008, Protacio helped lead the Mid-Pacific American Legion summer league team to a Hawaii State Championship and a Western Region runner-up finish.

Opening day for the 2012 Rochester Honkers is on May 30 when the Honkers travel to Waterloo, IA to take on the Waterloo Bucks. The home opener is Thursday, May 31st against the same Waterloo Bucks, game time is 7:05PM. Season Tickets, Bonus Books, Suites and Patios are now on sale for the 2012 season. Call the Rochester Honkers office at 507-289-1170 for more information.

December 19, 2011

Honkers Announce their 2012 Schedule

(Rochester, MN)—The Rochester Honkers Baseball Club announced today their complete game schedule for the 2012 Northwoods League season. The Five-Time NWL Champions open their 19th season on May 30^th, when they travel to Waterloo, IA to take on the Bucks @ 6:35pm. Their home opener will then take place on Thursday, May 31^st, when the Waterloo Bucks prance back to Mayo Field for a 7:05pm first pitch. This will be the first time the Honkers and Bucks have played each other since the 2008 season.

The 2012 season will be the third consecutive season that Northwoods League teams will only play within their division. The Honkers, a member of the North Division, will play a 70 game schedule in 75 days, beginning on May 30^thand ending at home on August 12^th. They will play each North Division opponent 10 times, five home and five away. The first half of the season will be complete at the end of play on Wednesday, July 4^th with the second half beginning the following day. The NWL Playoff Series will take place from August 13^th through August 18^th. The winner of each division’s two halves will meet in a best-of-three divisional playoff series (August 13-15) with the winners advancing to the Summer Collegiate World Series (August 16-18), also a best-of-three.

Start times for the Rochester Honkers 2012 home games will be 7:05pm for games Monday through Saturday and Sundays will all begin at 1:05pm. The Honkers will also play two midweek day games (June 26 and July 16) both starting at 1:05pm.

General admission ticket prices for the 2012 season will remain the same as 2011. Adults are only $6.00 while kids and seniors are $5.00. In 1994, the Honkers general admission tickets were $4.00 for adults and $2.00 for kids and seniors.

The Rochester Honkers are one of two remaining teams (Wisconsin (Wausau) Woodchucks) from the Northwoods League’s inaugural season of 1994. The Honkers have won a league high Five NWL Championships: (1994, 1997, 1999, 2006, 2009).

For the Rochester Honkers complete schedule, game times and ticket information, go to www.rochesterhonkers.com. The entire NWL schedule is available at www.northwoodsleague.com.