Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Ryan Schwagel fields a ground ball during their game against Granite Falls on Sunday. The A’s defeated the Kilowatts 8-6.

MARSHALL – After having their game on Friday postponed due to poor weather, the Marshall amateur baseball team was treated to a picture-perfect day as the A’s hosted Granite Falls. The A’s and Kilowatts would put on an offensive display, combining for 14 runs and 32 hits, as Marshall used a five-run sixth inning to earn an 8-6 victory on Sunday evening at Legion Field.

Marshall manager Ryan Schwagel said he was pleased with their ability to hit the ball well all night and credited his pitchers for hanging tough when called upon.

“We pounded 18 hits, that’s pretty good; we only scored eight runs but we could always get some more clutch hits,” Schwagel said. “We pitched alright, we’re running low on arms and the guys gutted out the innings they needed to and overall it’s a big win.”

The A’s quickly jumped out to an early lead, as Ryan VanMoer and Alex Thompson both got on the basepaths before an RBI sacrifice fly from Zach Olson and an RBI single by Barry Meyer gave Marshall a 2-0 lead in the first.

Granite Falls had a couple of opportunities to break onto the scoreboard in the next couple of innings, loading the bases each time, but couldn’t capitalize at the plate. The Kilowatts would finally break through in the scoring department in the fourth, doing their damage with two outs.

Christian Kanten and Brandon Grund would draw walks and Tyler Dammann connected on a single to load the bases, before Colton Vien smacked a two-run double and Cam Vien followed it up with an RBI single of his own to give the Kilowatts a 3-2 lead.

Marshall would quickly respond in the next half-inning, though, as Zach Thompson, Schwagel and VanMoer all reached to load the bases before an Alex Thompson single plated a run to tie things up at 3-3.

After a scoreless fifth, Granite Falls picked the scoring back up in the sixth when Dammann and Grund connected on back-to-back hits to plate a run before an RBI single from Markus Kranz gave the Kilowatts a 5-3 advantage.

That lead would be short-lived, though, as the A’s responded right back. Schwagel led things off with a single and a stolen base before Nick Macchio reached on an infield single and VanMoer brought in a run on an RBI groundout. Marshall then added a run on an error before Olson and Meyer reached safely to load the bases and bring Zach Thompson to the plate.

The catcher would come up big, lining a ball to left for a bases-clearing double to plate three runs and give the A’s the lead at 8-5.

Granite Falls didn’t go away, however, as the Kilowatts used a fielder’s choice, a Colton Vien single and a Cam Vien hit by pitch to load the bases with one out, before Kranz reached on an error to bring in a run and cut the deficit to two.

The Kilowatts had a chance to draw closer in the top of the ninth with a leadoff double, but the A’s relief pitcher Olson quickly shut down any comeback hopes with three straight outs to seal the Marshall win.

Cam Vien led the way for the Kilowatts with a 3 for 3 day at the plate with an RBI while Dammann also had three hits and Colton Vien had two hits and two RBI.

Granite Falls manager Mike Richter said they did a good job of fighting through their at-bats and finding the right pitch to hit.

“I thought we had some pretty good at-bats; we drove some balls which was nice to see and hit some balls hard,” Richter said. “You don’t see a game that often with that many runs and that many hits and not very many errors and the one error didn’t really cost a lot. It’s just early season baseball.”

Schwagel led the way for the A’s with a 4 for 4 day at the plate while VanMoer and Alex Thompson each added three hits and an RBI and Zach Thompson had a hit and three RBI.

Olson picked up the win in relief, going 2.1 innings while allowing one run on three hits and striking out four. VanMoer earned the start, going 6.2 innings while giving up five runs on 11 hits and striking out six.

Schwagel said their key on the mound was just being able to throw strikes and put their trust in the defense to make the plays.

“Just throwing strikes and trusting the defense,” Schwagel said. “They had quite a few hits there too but we just picked up the strikeouts at the right time and made plays when we needed to.”

Marshall will face Wabasso on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. while Granite Falls will face Rosen on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Marshall 8, Granite Falls 6

Granite Falls 000 302 010 – 6 14 0

Marshall 200 105 00x – 8 18 1

HITTING: Granite Falls (Dammann 3-5; Grund 2-5, RBI; Colton Vien 2-5, 2 RBI; Cam Vien 3-3, RBI; Kranz 2-4, RBI; Enevoldsen 1-5; T. Lindstrom 1-1); Marshall (VanMoer 3-3, RBI; A. Thompson 3-4, RBI; Kontz 1-3, RBI; Olson 1-3, RBI; Barry Meyer 2-4, RBI; Z. Thompson 1-4, 3 RBI; Schwagel 4-4; Macchio 1-4; Greenwood 1-1; Braden Meyer 1-1).

PITCHING (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Granite Falls (Colton Vien 5.1-5-5-11-1-4; #18 0.2-3-3-2-0-1; Kanten 2-0-0-5-0-1); Marshall (VanMoer 6.2-5-5-11-4-6; Olson 2.1-1-0-3-0-4).