Photo by Jake Przytarski Marshall’s Cole Felcyn delivers a pitch during their game against Pipestone on Thursday. Marshall Orange defeated Pipestone 11-6.

MILROY – After a rough outing on Tuesday against Luverne, the Marshall 15U Orange team responded in a big way against Pipestone with an 11-6 victory at a stormy Irish Yard.

Coach Thomas Fischer was proud of the way his team battled back after the deflating loss Tuesday at the hands of Luverne.

“I was really proud of the guys,” said Fischer. “We got beat up pretty good earlier in the week and (tonight) we kind of changed our mindset back.”

The shift was evident in the early goings of the ball game as Cole Felcyn started strong for Marshall in the top of the first. A leadoff single from Pipestone did not phase Felcyn as he retired the next three batters and brought his team back to the dugout looking to take an early lead.

Jake Hughes led off for Marshall and struck out to begin the frame, but a pair of walks from Spencer Wambeke and Felcyn put a runner in scoring position. AJ Toulouse connected on a single to score Wambeke during the next at bat to give Marshall Orange their first run of the game. They would add one more thanks to a passed ball before the last batter was retired.

In the top of the second Felcyn continued to impress on the mound, striking out three of the four batters he faced and keeping Pipestone scoreless heading into the bottom of the inning.

The bats stayed hot in the second for Marshall and were aided early by some sloppy play in the field. Zach Allen led off and reached on an error to bring a man aboard. Jaden Pearcy drew a walk that brought Hughes to the plate where he delivered on a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position. Wambeke then drove Allen and Pearcy in on a two RBI single and the score was now 4-0. Felcyn and Toulouse grounded out to end the inning.

Pipestone had its own offensive surge in the top of the third beginning with a leadoff triple to left field. The runner would be waved home in the next at-bat to put Pipestone on the board. They would go on to score two more before the third out was made to bring the score to 4-3. Marshall Orange headed back to the dugout with some work to do in the bottom of the inning.

A pitching change was made to start the latter half of the inning and proved to be a wise decision. The new pitcher on the mound for Pipestone slowed the offensive momentum that Marshall had built in the first two innings and registered a 1-2-3 inning.

Lightning was spotted to begin the fourth inning and the game was halted for ten minutes before Felcyn made his way back out to the rubber. Pipestone took advantage of the delay and would go on to score a run to tie the game at four apiece. Pearcy took over in place of Felcyn with one out and two runners on base. Pearcy was able to close out the inning but not before another Pipestone run would score. Pipestone headed back to the field in what would be their first and only lead at 6-5.

Coach Fischer acknowledged the lightning delay as a factor in Felcyn’s struggles in the fourth.

“Felcyn kind of got a little bit rough after our lightning delay, but that was tough for him to just go back out there and start pitching right away,” said Fischer.

Not to be outdone, Marshall stormed back in the bottom of the inning starting with Allen who was hit by a pitch. Noah Blomme and Hughes would each draw walks of their own to load the bases for Wambeke. Wambeke drove Allen in on a sacrifice fly for his third RBI of the game and knotted the game up at five. Pearcy drew a walk in the next at-bat to reload the bases for another sacrifice fly, this time from Toulouse for his second RBI of the game putting Marshall back in the lead. Bryce Lance and Bensen Kuecker poured it on further with two runs beginning with an RBI single from Lance and a two RBI single by Kuecker. Marshall was now back in the driver’s seat heading into the fifth inning with a lead of 9-5.

Pearcy returned to the mound in the top of the fifth and kept the momentum alive for Marshall after a rocky start to the inning giving up a pair of leadoff walks. Pearcy dug in and retired the next three Pipestone batters and walked off the mound with the lead still intact.

Marshall could not add to their four run lead in the bottom of the inning thanks to another solid inning of pitching from Pipestone to keep a glimmer of hope alive for a comeback in the sixth.

Mitch Bouwman had other plans as he took over for Pearcy to close out the remainder of the ballgame. Pipestone was able to get on base thanks to a walk and an error but would not register a run as Bouwman ended the scoring threat and the inning via a pair of popouts.

Bouwman did his part in the batter’s box too starting with a leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth. A Toulouse walk brought another runner on for Braden Meyer who delivered a two RBI single to put the game all but out of reach for Pipestone heading into the final inning.

Pipestone was able to add one more run thanks to an error in the field but was unable to generate any more offense to bring the game to a close

Marshall will look to build off of their win when they head to Sioux Falls today for the Midsummer Classic that will last through the weekend.