Patrick Arnold
Three games, three more wins for the Express as they had an exhibition game with the St. Stephen Steves Wednesday night, took on the Eden Valley Hawks on Friday night, hosted the Pearl Lake Lakers for the weekend finale on Sunday afternoon. The Express improved to 17-5 overall as they won all three games and also went to 9-1 in CVL play with league wins on Friday and Sunday. The winning weekend extends the Express winning streak to ten games as they are winners in twelve of their last thirteen games.
Kimball blasts Steves
The Express came out swinging in this one as they blasted four homeruns. Scott Marquardt got into one for a solo shot in the third as did Pat Arnold, giving the Express an early 2-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Arnold would connect again, getting all of it, knocking it over the left centerfield fence. In the fifth inning, Aaron Knaus would get hit by a pitch, and Brian Marquardt stepped up to the plate and sent one deep into the trees that surrounded a beautiful St. Stephen ballpark to give the Express a 5-1 lead. In the seventh, Kimball would plate three more runs to give them an 8-2 lead, which would be the final of this game.
Brandon Kuechle (5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB, 4 HP) got the start for the Express as he went five solid innings, picking up the win. Joe Krippner relieved him in the sixth inning. Joe worked the sixth and seventh innings, throwing shut-out ball, striking out three. Jeremy Kuechle came on in the eighth inning and faced five batters ,allowing nobody past first base. Brooks Marquardt finished it out for the Express as he came on and pitched a scoreless ninth.
Brian Marquardt and Pat Arnold led the Express at the plate. Brian was 3-3 with a homerun, two singles and two RBI. Arnold went 3-4 with two HR, two RBI and a double. Another notable was Aaron Knaus, who went 2-2, walking twice and getting hit once by a pitch. He reached base in all five plate appearances. Knaus has already set a personal best, walking eight times this season already. He is showing more patience at the plate this season and is having a great year so far.
Express get one back from the Hawks
Kimball avenged an earlier season loss this past Friday as they traveled to Eden Valley and took a CVL contest from the Hawks 8-4 to even the season series at one a piece.
Both teams went scoreless through the first two innings. In the top of the third, the Express got on the board. Nate Turck led off with a single and Pat Arnold followed suit with a blooping single to centerfield. Turck would score on a wild pitch. Arnold would steal second and advance to third on a wild pitch. Joe Pennertz would knock Arnold in as he hit into a fielder’s choice to give the Express the early 2-0 lead. The Express would add to that lead in the top of the fifth inning as Jeremy Kuechle plated Pat Arnold with an RBI double, and Scott Marquardt drove in Kuechle to make it 4-0.
The Hawks would come back to score three runs off starter Pat Arnold (9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 SO, 3 BB, 1 BK) in the bottom of the fifth. Arnold started and went all nine innings pitching his first complete game ever. The fifth inning rally proved to be the biggest threat by the Hawks. Arnold walked two in the inning, and Joby McCann who owns the Express came up with a two-out single driving in two Hawk runs. The other run came on a RBI single by Joe Thiel.
The Express would answer with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth inning as Knaus led off with a double, Brooks Marquardt singled, and Nate Turck singled, plating both Knaus and Marquardt, extending the lead to 6-3.
Aaron Knaus had another big game, going 3-3 with a double and a triple, scoring two runs, knocking in one as well. Nate Turck went 3-4 with two RBI. Scott Marquardt was 2-4 with on RBI, Brooks Marquardt was 2-4 with an RBI, and Jeremy Kuechle had a double for the Kimball offense.
The score would stay 6-3 until the eighth inning when Mike Arnold led off with a single. Arnold was driven in by Knaus, who got all over a high fastball, sending it on a line and deep over the centerfielder’s head, recording a triple. Eden Valley’s park is 408 ft to dead center. Brooks Marquardt singled in Knaus to give the Express an 8-3 lead. The Hawks recorded a run in the bottom half of inning to make it 8-4. No runs were scored in the ninth as Arnold retired the Hawks on two groundouts and a strike out. Arnold went all nine, throwing 128 pitches as he improved to 3-0 on the year.
Kimball sinks Lakers
This past Sunday afternoon the Lakers of Pearl Lake came to Kimball in hopes of knocking off the Express. They had no such luck as Kimball exploded for 13 runs on 18 hits to win this one going away 13-3 on another hot, muggy, hazy afternoon at Kimball’s Willow Creek Baseball Park.
The story of this game was the return of Justin Hill. The right hander had surgery on his arm this past November and Sunday made his return to the mound after minimal pitching last season due to arm problems and sitting out all of this season, making only a few plate appearances in a DH role for the team. Hill had good velocity and excellent control as he went six very strong innings coming out only because he reached his pitch count. Hill wanted to throw only 80 pitches, taking it slow while getting back into the groove of things. He went over that mark by four pitches. Hill (6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB) picked up his first win in nearly a year. His last victory was against the Dassel Saints last July.
Kimball jumped out early and had a commanding 10-2 lead after four innings of play. Joe Pennertz, Aaron Knaus, and Brian Marquardt supplied the offensive surge as they combined for four doubles and seven RBI. Pennertz (3-5 2 2B, 3 R, 4 RBI) led all hitters, having a monster game at the plate. Brian Marquardt (2-4 2 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI) had another stellar afternoon at dish. Aaron Knaus, who has been coming up with clutch hits all season long, continued what he does best, going 2-5, driving in three runs to help give the Express the early lead. Others having good days at the plate in the 18-hit attack were Jeremy Kuechle and Pat Arnold, collecting three hits a piece, and Mike Arnold and Justin Schmitz, stroking two singles a piece as well.
Pearl Lake scored two in the top of the ninth inning off of Joe Krippner. Krippner relieved Kris Hagen, who came on in relief of Hill in the seventh inning. Hagen threw two innings of shut-out ball, and Krippner came on in the ninth with the big lead, throwing strikes, and the Lakers managed to score two.
After the dust settled this weekend, the Express find themselves at 9-1 and still in first place in the CVL North Division and 17-5 overall.
Upcoming schedule
The Express will be in Watkins on Wednesday evening to finish up a game that was started earlier this season in Kimball but was not finished. The game will pick up where it left off as Kimball was up in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied 2-2. Bases are loaded and nobody out. Justin Hill is on third, Joe Krippner on second and Jeremy Kuechle is on first. Pat Arnold will be at the plate. After the continuation game, they will play the regularly scheduled game. A tentative game time for the start of the continuation game will be 7 p.m. On Sunday at 2 p.m. the Express welcome the Gussies of St. Augusta to town as they clash in a CVL battle. The Express wish everyone a fun and safe Fourth of July weekend.