Baseball roundup: KMS Fighting Saints clinch Camden Conference title

By Michael Lyne

May 21, 2023 at 8:37 PM

PRINSBURG — The Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg baseball team secured the Camden Conference regular season title with a victory over Central Minnesota Christian School on Saturday.

The Fighting Saints (15-2) defeated the Bluejays 16-3 in five innings.

KMS’ Travis Engelke and Jared Cortez hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning for the Fighting Saints. Engelke’s home run came as a grand slam.

Engelke went 3-for-4 with a double, seven RBIs and a run. Cortez was 2-for-4 with a double, four RBIs, two runs and a stolen base.

Evan Zimmer and Tanner Wilts also had three hits each for KMS. Zimmer batted 3-for-4 with one run, an RBI and a stolen base. Wilts hit 3-for-3 with a double and two runs.

CMCS’ Ben Ryks hit a three-run home run in the third inning to avoid the shutout and make it 13-3.

CMCS plays MACCRAY at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Raymond. KMS plays Border West at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Sunburg.

More Baseball:

Recent baseball coverage from the West Central Tribune.

KMS 16, CMCS 3

KMS 157 21-16 16 1
CMCS 003 00-3 7 3

Hitting - KMS: Isaac Rudningen 1-3 r-3 rbi bb sb, Travis Engelke 3-4 r rbi-7 2b hr, Jared Cortez 2-4 r-2 rbi-4 2b hr sb, Jaiden Henjum 1-3 r-2 bb 2b, Evan Zimmer 3-4 r rbi sb, Luke Jeseritz 1-3 r-2 rbi-2 bb 2b sb, Chase Magaard 2-3 r-3 bb, Tanner Wilts 3-3 r-2 2b … CMCS: Braelin Rime 1-3 r, Kadin Dehmlow 0-3 r, Ben Ryks 1-3 r rbi-3 hr, Josh Nelson 2-2 bb 2b, Isaiah Swart 1-2 2b, Wesley Fussy 1-2, Drew Duininck 1-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - KMS: Cortez (W) 4-6-3-0-1-5, Engelke 1-1-0-0-0-2 … CMCS: Dehmlow (L) 2.2-11-13-12-2-1, Ryks 2.1-5-3-3-2-0

CMCS 11, Edgerton/SWC 8

Central Minnesota Christian School bounced back against Edgerton/Southwest Christian after its loss to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg at Prinsburg.

Four Bluejays’ batters — Ethan Bulthuis, Josh Nelson, Peyton Meyer and Jake Veer Steeg — recorded two hits.

E/SWC 041 210 0-8 8 2
CMCS 312 320 x-11 12 5

Hitting - E/SWC: Caden Sas 1-4 r rbi bb, Trevin Prins 2-4 rbi-2 bb 2b, Skyler Feikema 0-3 rbi bb, Jacob Uilk 1-4 r rbi sb, Josh Groen 1-3 r-3 sb, Nathan Hoekman 1-2 r rbi bb-2 sb-2, Joshua Van Dam 1-4 2b, Conner Ockenga 0-2 bb, Blake Schultz 1-4 r-2 … CMCS: Isaiah Swart 0-4 r bb, Ethan Bulthuis 2-4 r-2 rbi sb-4, Kadin Dehmlow 1-3 r-3 bb 2b sb-2, Ben Ryks 1-2 r-2, Josh Nelson 2-3 r-2 rbi-2 bb sb, Peyton Meyer 2-4 r rbi-2 sb, Wesley Fussy 1-4 rbi, Jake Veer Steeg 2-4 rbi, Drew Duininck 1-4 rbi

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - E/SWC: Van Dam (L) 4-12-9-9-3-2, Groen 2-0-2-1-0-0 … CMCS: Braelin Rime 2-4-5-1-4-1, Fussy (W) 2-2-2-0-0-5, Bulthuis 3-2-1-0-2-2

Game 2: Minnewaska 10, BOLD 4

Minnewaska earned a pair of wins in its host to a doubleheader against BOLD at Glenwood.

In Game 1, Minnewaska won 10-0 in five innings. The Lakers held the Warriors to one hit from Mathew Jacobs, who went 1-for-2.

Three Lakers’ hitters — Noah Jensen, Austin Weber and Austin Ballhagen — each had a pair of hits in the Game 1 victory.

In Game 2, Minnewaska’s Jensen and PJ Johnson both recorded three hits. Jensen was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a pair of runs and a walk. Johnson was 3-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and one run.

BOLD got a pair of hits from Jack Kaiser, who added two RBIs and Owen Flann in Game 2.

The Warriors play Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Bird Island. Minnnewaska hosts a doubleheader against Morris/Chokio-Alberta at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Glenwood.

Minnewaska 204 201 1-10 12 2
BOLD 012 010 0-4 7 8

Hitting - Minnewaska: M Gruber 1-3 r bb, Alex Panitzke 0-4 r bb sb, Dylan Alexander 1-4 r-2 bb sb, Noah Jensen 3-4 r-2 bb 2b-2, PJ Johnson 3-5 r rbi-3 2b, Austin Weber 0-2 r rbi-2 bb-3, Austin Ballhagen 1-4 bb sb, Levi Johnson 2-2 r rbi bb 2b sb, Thomas Poegel 0-1 r sb … BOLD: Tate Sheehan 1-2 r-2 bb-2, Jonah Walton 1-4 rbi, Jack Kaiser 2-4 rbi-2, Owen Flann 2-4, Max Benson 0-3 r sb, Daylen Weber 1-3 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Minnewaska: Alexander (W) 3-3-3-2-1-5, Weber 4-4-1-0-1-4 … BOLD: Benson 1-0-2-1-6-0, Hunter Malvin (L) 4.2-9-7-4-2-4, Flann 1.1-3-1-1-2-0

Game 1: Minnewaska 10, BOLD 0

BOLD 000 00-0 1 6
Minnewaska 622 0x-10 11 0

Hitting - BOLD: Mathew Jacobs 1-2 … Minnewaska: Jack Majerus 1-2 r-2 bb sb, Alex Panitzke 0-3 r sb, Dylan Alexander 1-3, Noah Jensen 2-3 r-2 sb, PJ Johnson 1-3 r-2, Austin Weber 2-3 r rbi-3 2b, Austin Ballhagen 2-3 r rbi sb, Levi Johnson 1-3, Thomas Poegel 1-4 r sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - BOLD: Samuel Sigurdson (L) 4-11-10-2-1-3 … Minnewaska: PJ Johnson (W) 4-0-0-0-0-5, L. Johnson 1-1-0-0-0-0