Baseball roundup: Late homer lifts Minnewaska Lakers past ACGC Falcons

GROVE CITY — With a swing of the bat, Dylan Alexander delivered a win for the Minnewaska baseball team in a soggy non-conference tilt Friday against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City.

Alexander hit a solo home run to lead off the top of the seventh inning, delivering the game-winning run in a 5-4 victory.

The weather fluctuated all game long with spurts of rain, drizzle and calm overcast skies. The game was moved to ACGC High School in Grove City due to field conditions at the Falcons’ usual home, Kingery Field in Atwater. Through the early portion of the game, coaches sat in the dugout, towel in hand trying to dry off game balls.

ACGC struck first when Jaxon Drange-Leyendecker scored in the bottom of the first on a Terrell Renne grounder.

Minnewaska responded with a three-run top of the second as Thomas Poegel hit a two-run single, followed by a Joey Majerus RBI single.

The Falcons chipped away at the Lakers’ 3-1 lead. They scored a run in the bottom half of the second on a squeeze bunt by Eric Fester that scored Brody Straumann. ACGC took the lead in the third when Jonas Morrison scored on a passed ball and Drange-Leyendecker drew a bases-loaded walk.

Minnewaska tied it back up in the top of the fourth when Austin Ballhagen scored on a Levi Johnson groundout.

With the score tied, Alexander gave the Lakers the late spark they needed to secure the win. Starting the game at catcher, he came in to pitch the final four innings, striking out six with zero runs on one hit and no walks to claim the victory. At the plate, he was the only Minnewaska player with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with the solo home run and a triple.

Drange-Leyendecker was 1-for-2 with a double, a run, an RBI and two walks for the Falcons.

Minnewaska (9-3) hosts Benson for a West Central Conference doubleheader at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Marthaler Field in Glenwood. ACGC (0-11) heads to the Green Lake Baseball Diamonds in Spicer at 4:30 p.m. Monday for a non-conference matchup with New London-Spicer.

Minnewaska    030   100   1-5   8   2
ACGC      112   000   0-4   4   0
Hitting - Minnewaska: Jack Majerus 1-3 rbi hbp sb, Levi Johnson 0-3 rbi bb, Dylan Alexander 2-4 3b hr r rbi, Noah Jensen 2-3 2b r hbp, Austin Weber 1-4 2b r, Alex Panitzke 1-4, Austin Ballhagen 0-1 r bb-2 sb-2, Thomas Poegel 1-2 r rbi-2 sb … ACGC: Jaxon Drange-Leyendecker 1-2 2b r rbi bb-2, Terrell Renne 0-4 rbi, Jonas Morrison 1-4 r, Logan Serbus 1-4 r, Brody Straumann 1-2 r bb, Eric Fester 0-1 rbi bb
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Minnewaska: PJ Johnson 1-1-1-1-0-0, Panitzke 2-2-3-2-5-3, Alexander (W) 4-1-0-0-0-6 … ACGC: Morrison 5-6-4-4-3-4, Marcus Forsythe (L) 2-2-1-1-0-1

Melrose swept a doubleheader at Benson, beating the Braves in five innings mostly because of a six-run fourth inning and then jumping out to a 6-0 lead in Game 2.

In Game 1, Max Nygaard was 1-for-3 with a double and run and Reece Larson was 1-for-2 for Benson.

In Game 2, AJ Klassen went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Braves.

Benson   001   020   0-3   3   4
Melrose     241   000   0-7   8   0
Hitting - Benson: Max Nygaard 1-4, Reece Larson 0-1 r bb-2 hbp, Alex Claussen 0-2 r hbp-2, AJ Klassen 2-3 rbi, Jack Storlien 0-2 rbi sf, Mason Moe 0-1 r bb … Melrose: Devin Orbeck 2-3 r-2 hbp sb-3, Anthony Berscheit 0-1 r bb hbp-2, Connor Anderson 1-4 r-2 rbi-2 sb, Isaac Rosenberger 0-4 rbi, Hunter Goihl 2-3 rbi sb, Breydon Dobmeier 1-3 2b, Ian Funk 1-3 r, Westin Middendorf 1-2 2b r bb, Blaise Welle 0-3 rbi-2
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Benson: Klassen (L) 6-8-7-4-2-3 … Melrose: Goihl 1-0-0-0-2-2, Dobmeier (W) 5-3-3-3-4-6, Funk 1-0-0-0-0-1

Melrose   304   60-13   10   2
Benson      011   00-2   2   4
Hitting - Melrose: Devin Orbeck 0-3 r bb, Maxwell Wehlage 1-4 2b r rbi, Connor Anderson 1-3 r bb sb, Isaac Rosenberger 2-3 r-2 rbi-2 sb, Jayden Danzl 1-1, Anthony Berscheit 1-2 r-2 rbi bb sb-2, Jackson Seanger 1-1, Breydon Dobmeier 1-2 2b r-2 rbi bb, Westin Middendorf 0-1 r rbi hbp sf, Hunter Goihl 1-2 3b r-2 rbi-2 bb sb, Ryan Herdering 1-2 r rbi bb sb … Benson: Max Nygaard 1-3 2b r, Reece Larson 1-2, Garrett Lenz 0-1 r, Zach Wrobleski 0-1 rbi sf
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Melrose: Herdering (W) 3.1-2-2-1-2-4, Goihl 1.2-0-0-0-0-4 … Benson: Lenz (L) 3-7-9-8-4-3, Wrobleski 2-3-4-2-2-1

Helped by some late-game heroics in Game 1, Montevideo swept Morris/Chokio-Alberta at Montevideo.

It took a while for the Thunder Hawks’ offense to get going. First was a 40-minute rain delay that stalled the start of Game 1. When play got underway, Morris jumped out to an 8-0 lead through five innings. Montevideo scored three runs in the sixth and five in the seventh to tie the game at 8-all. Then in the bottom of the eighth, the Thunder Hawks got the walk-off victory when Landon Olson scored on a sacrifice fly by Luke Kuno.

Kuno finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Griffin Epema was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Brady Snell was 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, and Ethan Moravetz was 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.

Morris/CA   103   220   00-8   17   1
Montevideo     000   003   51-9   9   5
Hitting - Morris/CA: Riley Asmus 2-5 r-2 sb, Andrew Marty 2-5 r sb, Kyle Fehr 2-5 r rbi-4, Ozzy Jerome 4-5 r rbi, Trevor Buss 2-5 rbi, Johnny Kleindl 2-5, Owen Anderson 2-4 2b r, Tyler Berlinger 1-4 r, Jackson Hallman 0-0 r … Montevideo: Sam Ripley 1-2 r-2, Ethan Moravetz 1-2 r-2 bb-2, Brady Snell 1-3 r-2 rbi bb-2, Luke Kuno 1-4 rbi-2, Gannon Reidinger 0-3 rbi bb, Griffin Epema 2-4 rbi, Mason Jerve 2-4 r rbi, Landon Olson 1-3 r, Dan Gunlogson 0-0 r
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Morris/CA: Drew Huebner 5.2-1-3-0-2-12, Dan Travis 0.2-3-3-3-0-1, Hallman 0-3-2-2-1-0, Asmus (L) 1.1-2-1-1-2-1 … Montevideo: Snell 5-15-8-7-1-5, Jerve (W) 3-2-0-0-0-2

KMS 5, Browerville/EV 3
Chase Magaard had an impact at the plate and the mound for Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in a win over Browerville/Eagle Valley in Game 1 of the MaxBat Classic at Elrosa.

Magaard went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. He also got the win after striking out six with three runs allowed on two hits and two walks over six innings. Jaiden Henjum drove in a pair of runs, going 1-for-2. Jared Cortez went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI while also striking out the side in the seventh inning to collect the save.

The tournament continues Saturday at Elrosa.

Browerville/EV    030   0   0-3   3   2
KMS     003   011   x-5   7   2
Hitting - Browerville/EV: R. Riedel 1-4, N. Benning 1-3 rbi-2, H. Puck 0-2 r bb sb, B. Host 1-3 2b r rbi, J. Defoe 0-3 r … KMS: Isaac Rudningen 1-3 r bb, Chase Magaard 2-3 r-2, Jared Cortez 1-3 r rbi, Jaiden Henjum 1-2 rbi-2, Evan Zimmer 1-3, Luke Jeseritz 1-3 r 
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Browerville/EV: P. Duncan (L) 6-7-5-4-2-5 … KMS: Magaard (W) 6-2-3-1-2-6, Cortez (Sv) 1-1-0-0-0-3

Matthew Warring threw a complete-game shutout for Sauk Centre in a victory over host Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in Game 2 of the MaxBat Classic at Elrosa.

Warring struck out five while limiting the Jaguars to four hits and two walks. On offense, the Mainstreeters were led by Eli Fletcher, who went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

Ethan Mueller, Brett DeRoo, Luke Dingmann and Ryan Jensen each had hits for the Jaguars.

Sauk Centre   000   030   1-4   3   1
BBE     000   000   0-0   4   1
Hitting - Sauk Centre: Matthew Warring 0-3 r bb, Hunter Broich 1-2 r-2 bb hbp, Eli Fletcher 2-3 2b rbi-2 bb, Hunter Danielson 0-2 rbi bb, Keegan Middendorf 0-3 rbi bb, Logan Frank 0-3 r … BBE: Ethan Mueller 1-4, Brett DeRoo 1-3, Luke Dingmann 1-3, Ryan Jensen 1-3
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Sauk Centre: Warring (W) 7-4-0-0-2-5 … BBE: Tanner Shelton (L) 4.2-1-3-0-6-5, Tate DeKok 0.1-0-0-0-0-0, DeRoo 2-2-1-1-0-2