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WILLMAR — Sauk Rapids prevailed in a battle between two Class AAA state baseball teams from 2021.
Taking on Willmar in the Cardinals’ home opener Thursday at Bill Taunton Stadium, a pair of runs in the second inning held up for the Storm in a 2-1 Central Lakes Conference victory.
Sauk Rapids pitchers Cullen Posch and Terrence Moody combined to throw a shutout. Posch got the win after striking out six with five hits and two walks allowed over 4-1/3 innings. Moody came in to throw the final 2-2/3 innings, striking out four with one hit and no walks.
Sauk Rapids’ offense broke through in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, Luke Pakkala and Noah Jensen had back-to-back RBI doubles that provided the only runs of the game.
On the final play of the game, Willmar was able to get a run across. A Sam Etterman base hit to left field and a throwing error allowed Brandt Sunder to score. But on the same play, Etterman was thrown out at third trying to advance on the throw.
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“It’s a tough loss to take,” said Cardinals head coach Tom DeBoer. “We had chances to score but just couldn’t push runners across when we had them in scoring positions.
“We fell one hit short.”
For Willmar, Sunder went 2-for-4 with a run and two doubles from the leadoff spot. Etterman finished 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
Cayden Hansen was hit with the loss despite striking out 10 in a complete game.
“Cayden pitched a heck of a game,” DeBoer said. “He controlled the strike zone and didn’t issue a walk.”
The Cardinals (2-2) are back at Bill Taunton Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday to play the St. Cloud Tech/Apollo Crush.
“Hopefully we can get our sticks rolling,” DeBoer said.
Central Lakes
Sauk Rapids 2, Willmar 1
Sauk Rapids 000 020 0-2 5 2
Willmar 000 000 1-1 6 1
Hitting - Sauk Rapids: Noah Jensen 1-3 2b rbi, Jeff Solorz 1-3, Ethan Swanson 1-3 r, Luke Pakkala 1-3 2b r rbi, Andrew Harren 1-2 … Willmar: Brandt Sunder 2-4 2b-2 r, Sam Etterman 2-3 bb sb, Ian Koosman 1-3, Cayden Hansen 1-3 sb
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Sauk Rapids: Cullen Posch (W) 4.1-5-0-0-2-6, Terrence Moody 2.2-1-0-0-0-4 … Willmar: Hansen (L) 7-5-2-2-0-10
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Wright County
Rockford 15, Litchfield 4
Jumping on Litchfield early, Rockford notched a Wright County Conference win over Litchfield in Cokato.
Connor Taber finished 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored for the Dragons, who drop to 2-5 overall and 1-5 in the Wright County.
Rockford 245 202-15 13 1
Litchfield 301 000-4 4 4
Hitting - Rockford: n/a … Litchfield: Connor Taber 2-3 2b r-2, Daniel Estrada 1-2 r bb, Anthony Estrada 1-3 2b rbi-2, Caden Besemer 0-2 r rbi
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Rockford: n/a … Litchfield: Calvin Jones (L) 2.1-9-11-9-3-0, Hunter Schultz 2.2-3-2-1-3-1, Beau Weseloh 1-1-2-2-4-3
Game 1: W-M 10, NLS 1
Watertown-Mayer started off its Wright County Conference doubleheader with a convincing win over New London-Spicer in Watertown.
Game 2: W-M 5, NLS 3
In a rain-shortened game, Watertown-Mayer completed the sweep over New London-Spicer in Wright County Conference play in Watertown.
West CentralMinnewaska 3, Sauk Centre 2Minnewaska scored with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to break a 2-2 tie and beat Sauk Centre at Glenwood.
Sauk Centre 001 001 0-2 3 1
Minnewaska 000 020 1-3 6 2
Hitting - Sauk Centre: H. Danielson 1-1 bb sac, M. Warring 0-2 rbi sf, L. Meyer 1-2 r bb, E. Fletcher 1-2 rbi 2b, Z. Bick 0-2 bb sb … Minnewaska: J. Blair 0-4 r, Torii Johnson 1-4, J. Majerus 2-4 r-2 rbi, J. Larson 2-4 rbi, Hunter Johnson 0-2 bb, N. Dell 0-2 bb, A. Panitzke 0-2 bb, C. Stein 1-3
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Sauk Centre: P. Crider (L) 6.2-6-3-2-3-4 … Minnewaska: J. Blair (W) 7-3-2-2-3-8
Morris/CA 12, BOLD 2
Kaleb Breuer and Kyle Fehr each had two hits to lead Morris/Chokio-Alberta past BOLD at Morris.
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Tate Sheehan went 2-for-3 with a run for the Warriors.
BOLD 000 02-2 5 7
Morris/CA 342 21-12 9 3
Hitting - BOLD: Tate Sheehan 2-3 r, Jack Kaiser 1-2 hbp, Carson Edwards 1-3, Hayden Edwards 0-1 hbp, Kaden Fischer 1-1 r bb … Morris/CA: Ross Marty 1-2 r, Brandon Jergenson 1-1 r rbi-2, Kaleb Breuer 2-3 r-2 rbi-2, Sam Kleinwolterink 1-3 r-2, Dan Travis 1-1, Riley Asmus 1-3 r-3 rbi bb 2b, Kyle Fehr 2-3 rbi-3 2b, Brett Hansen 0-2 r-2 bb, Dylan Rose 0-1 r bb, Toby Gonnerman 0-0 bb
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - BOLD: Kaiser (W) 2-5-7-2-2-4-2, Benson 2.1-4-5-0-4-3 … Morris/CA: Drew Storck (W) 4-2-0-0-1-7, Travis 1-3-2-1-0-2
Central Minnesota
Game 1: BBE 7, Holdingford 1
Will Van Beck, Blaine Fischer and Ashton Dingmann all had two hits to lead Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa past Holdingford at Elrosa.
Van Beck also got the pitching win, going six innings. He struck out six and walked one, allowing five hits and one earned run.
BBE 000 070 0-7 10 2
Holdingford 010 000 0-1 5 3
Hitting - BBE: Will Van Beck 2-4 rbi-3 2b, Blaine Fischer 2-4 r sb, Gavin Kampsen 1-4 sb, Ashton Dingmann 2-3 r rbi bb 3b, Luke Dingmann 0-4 r, Tanner Shelton 1-2 r bb 2b, C. Lenarz 0-1 r bb hbp, Easton Hagen 1-3 r rbi-2, C. Wright 1-3 r … Holdingford: L. Biniek 2-4, N. Hanson 1-3 r, D. Lange 1-2, Klehr 1-3 rbi
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - BBE: Van Beck (W) 6-5-1-1-1-6, Shelton 1-0-0-0-0-0 … Holdingford: Hoike (L) 5-8-7-1-3-2, Klehr 2-2-0-0-1-4
Game 2: BBE 8, Holdingford 5
Ashton Dingmann went 2-for-3 with a double, a homer, three runs and three RBI as Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa swept the doubleheader from Holdingford at Elrosa.
Holdingford 300 002 0-5 7 2
BBE 203 300 x-8 9 3
Hitting - Holdingford: R. Peterson 1-4 r rbi sb, L. Biniek 1-3 r bb sb, S. Harren 1-4 r rbi-2 3b, R. Voller 1-4 rbi, D. Opatz 2-3, D. Hoika 0-2 r bb, C. Klocker 1-3 rbi sb … BBE: Will Van Beck 0-3 r hbp sb, Blaine Fischer 0-2 r-2 bb hbp, Gavin Kampsen 2-4 r-2 rbi 2b, Ashton Dingmann 2-3 r-3 rbi-3 bb 2b hr, Luke Dingmann 3-4 rbi-3 2b, T. Dekok 1-1 sb, C. Wright 1-3 sb
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Holdingford: R. Voller 2-3-2-0-0-0, Biniek (L) 4-6-6-5-3-4 … BBE: Talon Kampsen (W) 5-5-3-3-2-4, Easton Hagen 2-2-2-2-1-3
Game 1: Paynesville 13, Royalton 3
Paynesville had five players with multiple hits in a six-inning Game 1 win over Royalton in Central Minnesota Conference play at Paynesville.
Spencer Eisenbraun had a big night at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double, five RBIs and a run scored.
Royalton 210 000- 3 3 4
Paynesville 422 113-13 13 1
Hitting - Royalton: Tyler Swenson 1-3 2b r bb, Drew Yourczek 1-2 rbi bb, Gabe Gorecki 1-3 rbi-2 sb, Will Gorecki 0-3 r bb sb, Jameson Klug 0-2 r … Paynesville: Grayson Fuchs 1-3 r-2 bb-2, Max Athmann 1-3 r-3 bb sb, Eli Nelson 2-3 r-3 bb sb, Spencer Eisenbraun 2-5 2b r rbi-5 sb, Austin Pauls 2-3 r rbi-2 bb, Isaac Lieser 2-3 r bb, Trent Wendlandt 1-4 rbi-3, Chase Bayer 2-4 r-2
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Royalton: Blake Albright (L) 2-5-6-3-3-3, Nick Leibold 3.1-8-7-6-4-0 … Paynesville: Nelson 3-2-3-2-5-4, Fuchs (W) 3-1-0-0-0-4
Game 2: Paynesville 13, Royalton 0
Chase Bayer and Bryce Vanderbeek each had three hits to help Paynesville secure a Central Minnesota Conference sweep over Royalton at Paynesville.
Bayer was 3-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Vanderbeek went 3-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.
Trent Wendlandt had a complete-game victory, striking out eight over five innings.
Paynesville 053 23-13 14 0
Royalton 000 00-0 5 1
Hitting - Paynesville: Grayson Fuchs 1-4 3b r-2 rbi-2, Max Athmann 2-2 r-2 rbi bb sb-2, Eli Nelson 1-2 r rbi bb, Spencer Eisenbraun 1-4 rbi, Isaac Lieser 2-3 2b r, Bryce Vanderbeek 3-3 r rbi-2, Spencer Lieser 1-3 r rbi-2, Chase Bayer 3-3 hr r-2 rbi-3, Austin Pauls 0-3 r … Royalton: Will Gorecki 1-3, Drew Yourczek 1-2, Gabe Gorecki 1-2, Blake Albright 1-2, Jacob Leibold 1-2
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Paynesville: Trent Wendlandt (W) 5-5-0-0-1-8 … Royalton: Leibold (L) 3-10-8-6-0-1, Cal Ollman 2-4-5-5-2-2
Game 1: ACGC 21, Maple Lake 1
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City routed Maple Lake in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Kingery Field in Atwater.
Game 2: ACGC 6, Maple Lake 1
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City completed the doubleheader sweep, beating Central Minnesota Conference rival Maple lake in the nightcap at Kingery Field in Atwater.
Camden
T-M-B 4, MACCRAY 1
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton put together three runs in the top of the sixth inning to pull away from MACCRAY for a Camden Conference win at Lilleberg Field in Raymond.
Dreyer Homan went 1-for-4 with an RBI in the Wolverines’ loss.
T-M-B 100 003 0-4 3 1
MACCRAY 001 000 0-1 3 3
Hitting - T-M-B: Brandon Duscher 1-3 r sb-2, Alex Shuh 2-3 r rbi sb-3 bb, Maddox Viessman 0-3 r bb-2 sb-2, Joe Anderson 0-2 rbi bb sb … MACCRAY: Ethan Strommer 1-4, Dreyer Homan 1-4 rbi, Brooks Asche 1-4, Xavier Noble 0-1 r bb-2
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - T-M-B: Ashton Squires (W) 6-2-1-1-5-7, Joe Anderson (Sv) 1-1-0-0-1-1 … MACCRAY: Homan 4.2-2-1-1-9-4, Jase Dirksen (L) 1.1-1-3-1-2-1, Joe Heidecker 1-0-0-0-1-1
Non-Conference
KMS 11, Border West 1
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg went on the road and got a win over Section 6A foe Border West in Clinton.
