Wind, rain and cool temperatures didn’t stop the Brewers and Express this past Sunday afternoon. Kimball staved off a late Luxemburg rally winning 11-10 in a classic hwy. 15 battle at the ball park behind St. Wendel’s Catholic Church in Luxemburg. Aaron Knaus (a.k.a. Mr. Offense) was strictly about business on Sunday. He ignited two big innings for the Express. In the first inning, Jeremy Kuechle drew a walk and Joe Pennertz singled. Mike Arnold also singled and scored Kuechle making the score 1-0. With two on, Knaus crushed a two out double to the right centerfield gap. This plated Pennertz and Arnold which gave the Express an early lead. Luxemburg came back in the bottom half of the inning and scored two runs themselves. The score was 3-2 in favor of Express. In the second and third innings, Luxemburg scored three more. This gave them their first and only lead of the game at 5-3. Kimball came back with a flurry of runs in the fourth inning and took the lead for good. The inning was highlighted by another two-out Knaus hit. He launched a bases loaded triple to the gap in right which gave him five runs batted in for the day. The Express scored seven runs in the inning and earned a 10-5 lead. The team added one more in the fifth inning as Pat Arnold scored on a Scott Marquardt single. Right-hander Kris Hagen (1-0) got the nod for the Express making his first start of the season. Hagen put in five innings of work before he was relieved by Pat Arnold in the sixth inning. Arnold made his 2003 debut and rolled along well until the eighth inning when he gave up one run and had to battle his way out of a bases loaded jam. In the ninth, the Brewers did not go away. They began a monstrous rally. Arnold got the lead-off batter grounded out on a hit to third. Brewer shortstop Kelly Weber reached on an error, then walked and loaded the bases. Then stepped in Luxemburg catcher Nate Lommel. He had a heck of a day going 3-5 at the dish. Lommel battled Arnold to a 1-2 count before he launched a grand-slam homerun to right field. This brought the score to 11-10. Arnold settled down getting the next two batters; one on a ground out and another on a strike out. This ended the big rally and the game. Kimball pounded out 15 hits but the defense committed six errors, something that is very unusual for the Express. “It’s a win,” said manager Tom Marquardt. Going to Luxemburg is always tough. Coming out with a victory is a success. From the fourth inning on, the game was played in a light rain making it miserable for players and fans. The Express record now stands at 2-0 CVL and 2-0 overall. The schedule gets a little more busy this coming weekend as Kimball will be in St. Joesph on Friday night. A 6:30 first pitch is slated. On Sunday, the Express will travel to Marty for an entertaining ball game against the Pearl Lake Lakers. A special game time is set for 3 p.m. This will give the Express players enough time to make it from their annual Mother’s Day Dinner at the Playland Ballroom to the ballpark in Marty. The Express invite every one to come out from 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. this Sunday for a excellent chicken dinner prepared by the wonderful staff at the Playland Ballroom.
