Vikings go 2-2 over busy week

After a long week with four games played, Minneota is showing signs of improvement in all phases of the game.
Losing twice early in the week, the Vikings' hitting and pitching started to shine and led to consecutive wins by the 10-run rule.
"It was a great end to a very busy week of baseball," said Minneota coach Keven Larson.

Result Friday, April 30
Minneota 13, CMCS 2

Thor Fischer tossed a complete-game three-hitter with eight strikeouts and no walks to spark the Vikings to their second straight lopsided win.
"It was good to see Thor come back after a tough outing against MACCRAY," said coach J.D. Pesch. "You always look at how they react after a loss and Thor came through very well."
Minneota scored in every inning but the first, eventually invoking the 10-run rule after six innings.
"Another very well-played game on offense," noted coach Keven Larson. "We hit when we had the chance, ran the bases very well, and took advantage of a couple of timely errors."
Ben Skorczewski and Braeden Panka had two hits apiece to pace an eight-hit attack for the Vikings. Carter Schuelke drove in two runs.

Minneota.......................031 117 - 13 8 3
CMCS.............................002 000 - 2 3 2

Minneota hitting: Ben Skorczewski 2-for-4, 2b, 2 runs, 3 rbi; Carter Schuelke 1-for-3, run, 2 rbi; Jacob Hennen 0-for-2, run; AJ Myhre 1-for-4, run, rbi; Isaac Pohlen 1-for-1, run. rbi; Braeden Panka 2-for-4, 2b, 2 runs; Kaden Culver 0-for-1, 2 runs, rbi; Peyton Gillund 1-for-1, rbi; Jonah Gruenes 0-for-2, run; Cooper VanOverbeke 0-for-3, 2 runs, rbi

Minneota pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Thor Fischer (W) 6-3-2-0-0-8

Result Thursday, April 29
Minneota 11, TMB 1

Braeden Panka went 3-for-3 and drove in five runs and the Vikings rode the strong six-hit pitching of Jacob Hennen to end a two-game losing streak.
The Vikings plated four runs in the third inning and never relinquished the lead, adding a lone run in the fifth before exploding for six runs in the sixth to invoke the 10-run rule. AJ Myhre stole third in the last of the sixth and scored the winning run on a single by Tyler Gronke.
"We hit very well for the majority of the game," said coach Keven Larson. "Our base running was on in that we took extra bases when we had the chance."
Hennen was in the control most of the way, giving up just a lone run in the top of the sixth inning. The right-hander walked none and struck out six.
"Jacob was ahead of most batters early and threw 60 strikes to 25 balls," said coach J.D. Pesch.
Nine players collected at least one hit for the Vikings. Besides Panka's three hits, Carter Schuelke went 2-for-2 and drove in a run with a double. Lone hits came from Ben Skorczewski, Hennen, Myhre, Kaden Culver, and Gronke. Jonah Gruenes and Cooper VanOverbeke.

TMB...............................000 001 - 1 6 4
Minneota.......................004 016 - 11 12 3

Minneota hitting: Ben Skorczewski 1-for-2, 2 runs; Carter Schuelke 2-for-2, 2b, run, rbi; Jacob Hennen 1-for-3, run, rbi; AJ Myhre 1-for-3, run; Braeden Panka 3-for-3, 2b, 2 runs, 5 rbi; Kaden Culver 1-for-2, rbi; Thor Fischer 0-for-0; Tyler Gronke 1-for-1; Isaac Pohlen 0-for-3; Jonah Gruenes 1-for-2, run; Cooper VanOverbeke 1-for-1, run; Peyton 0-for-0, run; Peyton Sheik 0-for-0, run

Minneota pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Jacob Hennen (W) 6-6-1-1-0-6

Result Tuesday, April 27
Murray County Central 7, Minneota 6

Minneota wasn't able to hold onto to an early 3-2 lead as visiting Murray County Central scored five times in the top of the fifth inning and held off a late Viking rally.
Minneota, down 7-3, scored a single run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to whittle the deficit to one run. But reliever Peyton Coulter shut the door in the seventh for the save.
"Once again, we just couldn't find the timely hit we needed," said coach Keven Larson.
Christian Tentinger had the big knock for MCC in the fifth, a bases-loaded triple. Tentinger and Nate Kleven had two hits apiece for MCC.
Braeden Panka started on the mound for the Vikings and was touched for eight hits and six runs (five earned), while walking three and striking out four. AJ Myhre gave up one run in relief and absorbed the loss. Carter Schuelke pitched 2 1/3 innings hitless and scoreless relief.
Myhre had two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs for Minneota. Jacob Hennen also had a single and a double while driving in one run. Ben Skorczewski, Braeden Panka and Cooper VanOverbeke had the other hits for the Vikings.
"We struggled in the field committing four errors and had four more mental errors," said coach J.D. Pesch. "Physical errors do happen, but mental errors are ones we can control and we press to eliminate them."

Murray CC.....................200 050 0 - 7 8 3
Minneota.......................300 012 0 - 6 7 4

Minneota hitting: Ben Skorczewski 1-for-3, 2 runs; Carter Schuelke 0-for-4, rbi; Jacob Hennen 2-for-3, 2 runs, rbi; AJ Myhre 2-for-4, run, 2 rbi; Jayden Gamrak 0-for-3; Braeden Panka 1-for-2; Tyler Gronke 0-for-2; Kaden Culver 0-for-2; Jonah Gruenes 0-for-2; Cooper VanOverbeke 1-for-4, run

Minneota pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Braeden Panka 4-8-6-5-3-4, AJ Myhre (L) 2/3-0-1-1-2-0, Carter Schuelke 2 1/3-0-0-0-0-1

Result Monday, April 26
MACCRAY 5, Minneota 2

MACCRAY broke open a tie game with four runs in the fourth inning and the Vikings never recovered.
"We just couldn't get things rolling in the field, on the mound, or with out bats," said Minneota coach Keven Larson. "We did fight back later in the game to close the gap, but we just couldn't get a big hit. We had the bases loaded a couple of times, but (MACCRAY) made some nice defensive plays to get out of it."
MACCRAY opened the scoring off losing pitcher Thor Fischer with a single run in the first inning. The Vikings came back to tie it with a run in the top of the fourth before the Wolverines rallied for four runs. The Vikings managed a run in the fifth to close within 5-2 and had the bases loaded but were unable to push any more runs across the plate.
"MACCRAY was a good test for third group," said Vikings coach J.D. Pesch. "They play solid baseball and don't make many mistakes. Our downfall was one inning when we string three or four mistakes together and that results in MACCRAY scoring four runs in fourth."
Fischer worked the first three innings and left with no outs in the last of the fourth. He was touched for four hits and four earned runs, while walking two and striking out two. Jacob Hennen allowed just two hits and one run over the final three innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Minneota managed only five hits off two Wolverine hurlers. Carter Schuelke went 2-for-4, while Ben Skorcewski, Braeden Panka and Jonah Gruenes had a hit each. Gruenes also drove in a run.
Dreyer Homan hurled six innings for the win for the Wolverines. He gave up five hits and no earned runs, while walking three and fanning 10. Brooks Asche pitched a hitless seventh and struck out two.

Minneota..................000 101 0 - 2 5 1
MACCRAY.................100 400 x - 5 6 1

Minneota hitting: Ben Skorczewski 1-for-4; Josh Schuelke 0-for-2; Peyton Gillund 0-for-1; Jacob Hennen 0-for-3; AJ Myhre 0-for-4, run; Carter Schueke 2-for-4; Braeden Panka 1-for-3, run; Kaden Culver 0-for-2; Jonah Gruenes 1-for-2, rbi; Cooper VanOverbeke 0-for-2, sb

Minneota pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Thor Fischer (L) 3-4-4-4-2-2, Jacob Hennen 3-2-1-1-0-2