Sunny skies and balmy temperatures greeted the Pearl Lake Lakers as they dropped anchor in Kimball Sunday, June 6. The skies soon clouded for the Lakers as the Express sent them home with a 4-0 loss in Central Valley League (CVL) action. The Express scored lone runs in the first, second, fourth and eighth innings, and Brooks Marquardt and Joe Krippner teamed up to throw a shut-out game. Offensively, Kimball was led by second baseman Brian Marquardt, 3-4, with a double and an RBI. Pat Arnold went 2-4 with a double, one run scored and an RBI. The win evened the season series with the Lakers who took game one in Marty, 5-4. New Ulm The Kimball boys of summer were in beautiful New Ulm Friday, June 4, to take on the Brewers in exhibition action. The Express got a bit of revenge by winning 8-4, after falling to the Brewers 4-3, in an extra inning contest last year. Pat Arnold started for the Express and allowed three runs in seven innings to pick up his third win of the season. Jeremy Kuechle relieved Arnold in the seventh and kept the Brewers in check, allowing one run. The Express jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a double by Brooks Marquardt. They tallied another in the third inning, three in the seventh and two more in the eighth to give them the victory. Rail report The two wins over the weekend improve the Express’ overall record to 8-4, and brings the CVL record to 5-4. The team heads to Cold Spring Wednesday, June 9, to take on the perennial Class B powerhouse Springers. Kimball took the Springers by surprise last year with a 7-4 victory. The first pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Express travel to the Granite City this weekend to compete in the St. Cloud Sports Inc. Amateur Baseball Tournament. They take on the New Munich Silverstreaks at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 12, at Dick Putz Field, and play against HR Pesty’s at 7 p.m. on Joe Faber Field. The tournament is three-team pool play. If the Express win the pool, they will be in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Sunday, June 13, on Joe Faber Field. Injury report Express pitcher Kris Hagen was injured in the game against the New Ulm Brewers Friday, June 4. Hagen was legging out a single and collided with the Brewers’ first baseman. The Express only had nine players available, and Hagen stayed in the game, playing first base so the team wouldn’t have to forfeit. He was unable to throw or use his right arm at all. Turns out Hagen broke his arm in the collision. He played first base for two innings with a broken arm.
