Honkers hold off Mud Puppies on Fireworks Night, 9-6

(ABC 6 News) — Home is where the heart is — that’s the mindset the Rochester Honkers kept as they hosted the Minnesota Mud Puppies on Saturday night.

It also happened to be Fireworks Night, which proved to be a sign of good juju in the end for the players and fans. But it didn’t start out like that, the Mud Puppies’ Cam Hunter cracked an RBI to left-center in the top of the first inning to get Minnesota on the board first.

Despite an unideal start for Honkers’ pitcher A.J. Campbell, his team’s offense struck back in the second. Alex Ritzer lined a shot up the middle to score Jakob Guardado, tying the game, 1-1. However, the tie would break soon enough, the Mud Puppies botching an easy pop fly, allowing Kevin Dowdell and Ritzer to both come home for a 3-1 Rochester lead.

Will Asby added a solo homer in the third inning as the Honkers managed to keep Minnesota at bay for a 9-6 victory. Combined with the fireworks after, it was fair to say Saturday night was a great one for Rochester baseball.