Otters Drop Baseball Double Header to St. Cloud Crush
It was a tough night in St. Cloud for the Fergus Falls baseball team as the Crush defeated the Otters 12-2 in 5 innings in the first game of their double header and then posted a 6-3 victory in the nightcap. “We had chances early in both games and showed that when we make plays behind our pitchers we can compete with anyone,” stated Head Coach Shane Thielke of the Otters. “St. Cloud is just too talented to give extra outs and they made us pay in both games. A few walks and defensive miscues catch up with you pretty quickly, especially against good teams.”
Isaiah Holmes was sharp in his first varsity start on the mound, allowing 2 earned runs in four innings. Henry Bethel finished up in relief. St. Cloud pitcher Kadyn Mark went the distance, limiting Otter hitters to 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 4 and only walking two batters in 5 innings. Ethan Gronwold led the Otter offense, going 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.
In game two, Hunter Powers got his first varsity pitching start, going 4 solid innings, yielding only 1 earned run, walking 1 and striking out 4. The Otter defense committed 5 errors, 3 of them in the 4-run 4th inning, proving to be the difference in the game. Gronwold provided 3 innings of quality relief, allowing only 2 hits and one earned run. Brock Scheuerman led the Otter offense, going 2-for-2 with a run batted in. Levi King went 1-for-3 with a RBI triple.
“I was proud of both Hunter and Isaiah,” said Coach Thielke. “We asked a lot of them tonight in their first starts on the mound and they showed grit. I love to see that out of our players, especially the young guys. Adding pitching depth will be key for us as we head into a heavy schedule in May.”
The Otters will play at Rocori on Thursday.
