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5th Inning Errors Open Door For Pine Island |
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5th Inning Errors Open Door For Pine Island |
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FIVE
ERRORS PLATE 7 PIONEERS, 9-5 ATHLETICS LOSS Athletics Can't Hold Early Lead As Ball Slips Away In Rain Soaked Game 050811
It was Mothers Day and the weather was certainly much warmer, but once again it turned out to be a mother of a much different verbiage. A steady rain made the game an ugly affair for both teams, promoting numerous errors on the day. Lakeville took an early 2-0 lead and things were looking good for the Athletics. Pitching ace Jake Hauck made his first appearance of the season, as did second year starter Jeff Farr. Both pitchers looked good, with Hauck pitching two innings, allowing just one hit against two strikeouts, and Farr throwing two 1-2-3 innings in the 3rd and 4th, but the undoing came in the 5th as three consecutive leadoff errors became the undoing for Lakeville.
The Athletics struck first blood in the 1st when shortstop Eddie Golom stroked a hit down the 3rd base line and then took 2nd on a wild pitch. First baseman Josh Storm worked his own down the line hitting with a shot past the 1st baseman, scoring Golom for a 1-0 lead. Lakeville came back for another run in the 2nd inning. Left fielder Eric Watts walked to lead off the inning and moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. Right fielder John Degerness also walked before catcher Brent Johnson hit into a fielder's choice to the shortstop, moving Watts to 3rd, but forcing Degerness at 2nd. Deggy then pinch ran for Johnson and got into a pickle play stealing 2nd while Watts alertly took home, giving Lakeville a 2-0 lead.
After a scoreless 3rd and 4th inning came the "ugly inning." With the rain still coming, the Athletics committed five errors in the inning, allowing Pine City back into the game with 7 runs, most of them unearned. The hardest hit ball of the day arguably came on a thundering Pioneer home run which crashed off the right field scoreboard with a loud bang, just missing the lights.
Lakeville answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the 5th. Pitcher Jeff Farr pounded the first of two hits with a single to right to lead off the inning, then took 2nd on a wild pitch. Jake Hauck followed with the first of his two hits as well, scorching a line shot to right and moving Farr to 3rd. Second baseman Nick Daniels came to the plate, receiving a wild pitch to score Farr and move Hauck to 2nd, before walking on a 4-1 count. One out later, 3d baseman Trent Larson also walked moving Daniels to 2nd. Both runners advanced on an ensuing groundout. Centerfielder Mark Berger came to the plate and also received a wild pitch, scoring Daniels and moving Larson to 3rd. Berger walked and then stole a base, but a third out left both runners stranded. Pine Island led at that point by a score of 7-5.
Neither team scored in the 6th and 7th innings. Pine Island picked up two insurance runs in the 8th on two hits and one hit batter to make the score 9-5. John Degerness pitched in relief, taking the hill in the 6th and closing out the game. He struck out three and scattered four hits in four innings of work.
Defensive plays of the game came from... Josh Storm who made an outrageous sprawling stab to his right to rob a hit in the 5th inning... and a U4-3 double play from Nick Daniels in the 8th inning. The Athletics out-hit the Pioneers 11-8, but were done in by errors in the 5th. Collecting hits for Lakeville were:
The Athletics Saturday game has been cancelled due to schedule conflicts. Their next game will be the Cannon Valley League opener on Sunday night at 7:30 at Burnsville's Alimagnet park.
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