Bulldogs Move to 9-0 After a Double Header Sweep Wednesday Afternoon
Eric Fick was dominant on the hill as he rang up 11 strikeouts in a 3-1 victory for Ottertail Central over Sebeka in the first game of their Wednesday double header. Their opponent in the second game was Wadena-Deer Creek. Lane Dilly was in command on the mound, going 7 innings, striking out seven batters and walking one, while allowing only an unearned run in the Bulldogs 6-1 win over the Wolverines.
Fick gave up three hits and one run over seven innings, while only walking one, leading OTC Head Coach Ryan Hendrickson to praise his pitcher, “Eric was really dealing today. His fastball was heavy and off-speed was nasty!”
Sebeka opened the scoring with a run in the fourth. Brayden Brinkman singled to drive in a run.
OttertaiL Central made the score 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gavin Pausch drew a one out walk, stole second, moved to third on a single by Kale Misegades and scored on a squeeze bunt by Dilly. Soren Floden then launched a 2-run home run. Assistant Coach Dakota Aeling said, “The fourth inning was Bulldog baseball. We love to be aggressive and then Floden came up big with that home run. It really sparked us.”
Defensively, OTC turned two double plays in the game and did not commit a single error. “We were able to turn two more DP’s today, a 6-4-3 and a 5-4-3. As an infielder, we take a lot of pride in making big plays for our pitcher, and were able to do that again today,” said Kale Misegades.
Gavin Pausch on third base. PHOTO PROVIDED
Owen Harig stands at 2nd base. PHOTO PROVIDED
Pitcher Lane Dilly fields his position. PHOTO PROVIDED
In the game with Wadena-Deer Creek, the Bulldogs got the early lead thanks to some small ball. Noah Link opened the bottom of the second inning with a walk. Conner Thompson bunted Link to second base and took third on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Ayden Olson. Eric Fick walked. Owen Harig scored Link with a single to left field and Fick later scored on a wild pitch. Lane Dilly said, “We are really tough when we are on the bases. We try to make every runner count. Today we were able to manufacture some big runs.”
The Wolverines answered with a run of their own in the fourth, making the score 3-1, Bulldogs. The Dogs were able to put up 3 more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ayden Olson started the inning with a base hit and Harig also singled. After a wild pitch, the Bulldogs had runners on second and third. Gavin Pausch laid down a perfect RBI squeeze bunt, scoring Harig. Misegades then put down another squeeze bunt to score another run. Dilly delivered a RBI ground out for the third run of the inning.
OTC Assistant Coach Randy Misegades commented on winning pitcher, Dilly, “I love this kid. He is such a fighter and had a bulldog attitude. He was awesome today. Anytime things got tough he either struck the kid out or rolled him over into a ground out. The Bulldogs were fun to watch today!”
Ottertail Central will play at home on Thursday against New York Mills.
