Knaus has big hit; Kuechle shines in relief

Patrick Arnold
Right-fielder Aaron Knaus hit in the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth inning, putting the Express ahead for good. Jeremy Kuechle pitched five innings of shutout baseball in relief Sunday as the Kimball Express captured their first Central Valley League victory of the season, downing St. Nick by a score of 3-1 on a cold, soggy Sunday afternoon in St. Nicholas.

The Express would start Pat Arnold on the mound; he would go only four innings, struggling most of the way, throwing 78 pitches, walking four, hitting one and striking out four in four short innings of work. Not being able to locate the strike zone going deep into the count with many batters was the demise of Arnold as he was relieved by Jeremy Kuechle to start the fifth inning.

Kuechle would come in and shine in a relief role using a combination of speed pitches and various arm angles, keeping St. Nick batters off balance. Kuechle would strike out two, going the final five innings pitching shutout ball to pick up his first victory of the season.

The Nicks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, plating one in the third inning. Kimball wouldn’t answer until the sixth inning when Pat Arnold got into an inside fastball, driving it over the left-fielder’s head for a stand-up double. He would score on a hard-hit single to center by catcher Scott Marquardt to tie the game at 1-1. Marquardt would steal second and score the go-ahead run on a clutch two-out single by Knaus, the biggest hit of the game. This is two weeks in a row Knaus has come through with a big hit for the Express. (Last weekend against the Watkins Clippers he drove in the game-tying RBI with a single to center.) Later on Sunday in the eighth inning Knaus would collect his second hit and drive in another run to give the Express a 3-1 advantage over the Nicks; he would finish the day 2-4 with two RBIs. Pat Arnold was 2-4 with a double and two runs scored, Joe Pennertz was 2-4, and Scott Marquardt was 1-3 with an RBI.

The Express are 1-0 in the CVL and stand at 2-0 overall.

Upcoming Schedule

The Express will be busy this week as they are on the road for two and end the weekend with CVL action at Willow Creek Baseball Park on Sunday, Wednesday the Express travel to Monticello to take on the Polecats a 7:30 first pitch is slated. On Friday night Kimball will invade beautiful Faber Field at St. Cloud’s Municipal Athletic Complex as they will square off with the St. Cloud Orthopedic Ice at 7 p.m. Sunday the Express will be at home taking on league rivals the Luxemburg Brewers with a 2 p.m. start.

Anyone who is a big fan of beautiful ballparks should make the short trip to St. Cloud Friday night and watch the Express take on the Orthopedic Ice. Joe Faber Field is as pretty as baseball fields come. The team is very excited to be making their first-ever appearance at Faber Field representing the town of Kimball.

NOTE: the game with the Kingston Kings that was to be played last Wednesday was cancelled due to rain and will not be rescheduled.

Express Facts

The Kimball Express have appeared in seven Minnesota Amateur Baseball State Tournaments, with the last appearance coming in 1985.