BIRD ISLAND-A fast offensive start and a mostly dominant pitching effort from Ben Steffel lifted BOLD to the second round of the American Legion Division II District 7 East Sub-Section playoffs on Tuesday.
The Mudhens put up four runs in the first inning and stayed in front the rest of the way, trumping Hector 7-3 in their postseason opener Tuesday.
Steffel began the scoring, leading off the bottom of the first with a single and coming around to score on an error.
The remaining three runs in the frame all came with two outs. Reed Stadther and Hunter Evenson both had RBIs with Stadther scoring on a wild pitch.
"Getting those first-inning runs was big," Mudhen Head Coach Joe Dollerschell said. "We told the kids beforehand we wanted to get out to a fast start and to put pressure on them and we did."
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Evenson added another two-out RBI in the third with a double.
A two-run Dane Daaks double and RBI double by Trey Weispfennig got Hector back in the game in the fourth inning, but BOLD put the game away with two big runs in the sixth.
Aside from the rough fourth inning, Steffel was dominant on the mound, surrendering just four hits and two walks to go with 12 strikeouts.
The 2015 BOLD graduate was unhittable early and late, as he retired the first 10 and final eight batters he faced.
The Mudhens host New London-Spicer at 7 p.m. Thursday in the District 7 second round.
BOLD 7, Hector 3
Hector 000 300 0-3 4 1
BOLD 401 002 x-7 12 0
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Hitting-Hector: Zach Rueber 1-3, Brock Luthens 1-3, Trey Weispfennig 1-3 2b rbi, Dane Daak 1-3 2b rbi-2... BOLD: Ben Steffel 2-4 rbi, Breckan Ebnet 2-4, Max Buchtel 2-3 rbi, Logan Nissen 1-4 rbi, Reed Stadther 1-4 rbi, Zach Blum 2-3 2b, Hunter Evenson 2-3 2b rbi-2
Pitching-Hector: Jake Pettit (L) 5.2-11-7-6-2-5, Dylan Maiers 0.1-1-0-0-0-0... BOLD: Steffel (W) 7-4-3-3-2-12
