Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Tanner Strommen rounds second base on his way to third for a stand-up triple during their game against Wabasso on Sunday. The A’s defeated Wabasso 4-3.

MARSHALL — After battling things out on Wednesday, the Marshall and Wabasso amateur baseball teams squared off once again, completing a home-and-home series on Sunday. It was another tight contest appeared destined for extra innings, but a late run by the A’s was enough to propel Marshall to a 4-3 victory at Legion Field.

Marshall manager Ryan Schwagel said they’re starting to hit their stride at the right time and felt they played a decent game overall.

“We’re just picking it up at the right time right before playoffs,” Schwagel said. “We played a decent ballgame, had a few hits and still had a few errors but we dug deep when needed to.”

Wabasso got out to an early lead, as Sam Guetter got aboard on an infield single and Carter Guetter reached on an error before a walk by Caleb Frericks loaded the bases with one out. Kyle Lechner then brought in the game’s first run with a bunt single before Wabasso extended its lead to 3-0 thanks to an infield single by Colby Wall and an error.

After going down in order in their first at-bat, the A’s used back-to-back singles from Zach Olson and Schwagel to put runners on the corners with no outs. A couple of batters later, Olson would score on an errant throw back to the pitcher to make it 3-1.

Despite getting on the board, Marshall continued to struggle finding efficient hitting, only getting two hits through the first few innings. In need of a spark, the A’s got a great start when Tanner Strommen smacked a stand-up triple to lead things off. After a walk by Olson, Schwagel cut the deficit to 3-2 with a sacrifice fly before another sacrifice fly by Jordan Mernaugh helped tie things up at 3-3 after four.

Neither side would find scoring over the next couple of innings, but Marshall got back on the board in the seventh. Mernaugh led things off with a double before advancing to third on a sacrifice and, after a walk by Peyton Grant, Matt Hmielewski gave the A’s their first lead of the day at 4-3 with a sacrifice fly.

Wabasso had a chance to tie things back up and force extras with a leadoff single by Wall in the ninth, but the Marshall starter Logan Terfehr was able to get the next three batters out to seal the victory.

Terfehr earned the complete-game victory on the mound for Marshall, going nine innings while allowing three runs on seven hits and struck out six.

Schwagel led the way for Marshall with two hits and an RBI while Mernaugh and Hmielewski each added a hit and an RBI and Olson and Strommen also had a hit.

Schwagel said their key on offense was trying to stay aggressive at the plate and put pressure on the defense right away.

“Just swinging the bat and try to be aggressive and put the ball in play and put pressure on them,” Schwagel said. “That’s what we’ve got to do every game and we’re just starting to finally hit our stride here so we’re feeling good.”

Despite the outcome, Josh Guetter said he was pleased with their overall effort but felt they just let things slip away as the game went on.

“It was a good ballgame. Coming in it was our last Corn Belt League game of the season, so we wanted to go out on a high note in the league. We got out to a good start in the first inning, it’s just a matter of as the game progresses finding that key hit here or there and making a key play in order to win,” Josh said. “It’s the little things and I think the little things slipped away from us.”

Wall led the way for Wabasso with a trio of hits and an RBI while Sam Guetter added two hits and Lechner and Frericks each having a hit, with Lechner also collecting an RBI.

Lechner took the loss on the mound, going seven innings while allowing four runs on five hits and struck out five.

Josh Guetter added Lechner has been able to go deep into the ballgame with multiple outings this season and felt he did a good job of mixing up his pitches.

“Kyle’s been a horse for us all season. He’s been a guy who can go out there and grind and give you six, seven or eight innings,” Josh said. “He did a really good job of mixing his pitches up and keeping the batters off their toes and throwing that heat when he needed to.”

Up next

Marshall will face Granite Falls on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Schwagel said as they approach the final games of the regular season, they need to keep playing on a consistent level as they push for a top-four playoff spot.

“Just keep playing baseball. Everybody is finally starting to hit their stride and Wednesday is a big one,” Schwagel said. “We’ve got to win there and then it’ll all fall in place from there.”

Wabasso will face Cottonwood on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Josh Guetter said they just need to continue to make the small plays when they are presented and maintain a strong focus throughout the entire nine innings.

“Just making the little plays when we can,” Josh said. “There were a couple of plays in the earlier innings where if we make that play we might have saved a run or got an out so it’s about being able to stay focused the entire nine innings and making sure that we’re on and know where to go every single play and that’s going to be key for us going forward.”