Trailing 2-0 after one inning on the road versus the Annandale Cardinals, the Eagles’ baseball team rallied back with a five-run fourth inning to take its first lead of the game, at 5-2. This edge wouldn’t last beyond this inning.
In an inning that saw 12 Cardinals plate appearances, the Eagles gave up eight runs, keyed by some defensive miscues and six walks, to fall into a 10-5 deficit. The Eagles eventually paid the price for this pitching wildness and these defensive errors in an 11-5 loss Tuesday, April 8 – the team’s season opener.
Coltant Harff took the pitching loss for the Eagles in relief, giving up six runs, just two earned, on no hits and six walks.
Defensive miscues would hurt the Eagles in this game. A dropped fly ball in left field allowed the final three Cardinals runs to score in that key fourth inning. As a team, the Eagles committed five errors in the game, leading to five unearned Cardinals runs.
Offensively, in its five-run fourth inning, the Eagles would also bat around, coming to the plate 13 times. The Eagles recorded five hits in the inning, highlighted by a Max Geislinger RBI single, Lee Dziengel two-run double, Brayden Kramer RBI single, and Eli Hernandez RBI double.
For the game, the Eagles finished with nine hits. Hernandez finished two for two with an RBI, Dziengel two for three with two RBI, and Geislinger two for four with an RBI to lead the Eagles.
ACGC
After committing five errors, walking 10 batters, and giving up five unearned runs in its -season-opening loss to the -Annandale Cardinals, the Eagles played a cleaner game in its home opener, and reaped the rewards in a 6-2 victory over the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons on April 10.
Unlike its prior game, the Eagles jumped out to the early lead with three first-inning runs, taking advantage of a couple errors and a couple walks.
The Falcons got on the scoreboard with a run in the third, but the Eagles answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on a Riley Geislinger RBI single, giving his team a 4-1 lead after three innings.
After allowing a single run on a triple and passed ball in the fifth to see its lead cut to two, at 4-2, the Eagles tacked on two runs via a Mitchell Lipinski RBI double and Blake Glenz RBI groundout, providing for the final margin.
The Eagles’ Glenz earned the pitching win, giving up one run on four hits and five walks, and striking out two over three innings. Offensively, Eli Hernandez, Max Geislinger, Riley Geislinger, Mitchell Lipinski, and Blake Glenz each recorded a hit to pace the Eagles.
Next action
After hitting the road to play Osakis on Friday, April 11, and hosting a double-header versus Holdingford on Monday, April 14, the Eagles head back on the road to play Foley Monday, April 21 and return home to host Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Tuesday, April 22.