PREP BASEBALL: RTR gets tripped up by KMS 11-1
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RUTHTON -- Facing its toughest test of the season on Friday against No. 2 ranked Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (15-0), the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton baseball team (11-4) knew it would take a well-rounded effort in order to come out on top against the unbeaten Saints.
The Knights appeared to be on their way to meeting that challenge after three scoreless innings, but a mistake-riddled fourth fueled the opportunistic Saints to post crooked numbers in their final three at-bats in an 11-1 victory (six innings).
RTR coach Josh Fredrickson said he was pleased with his team's focus early on, but the mental mistakes in the middle innings are what proved to be the difference.
"We had one little mental mistake and then that kind of spiraled and we had another mental mistake. That was kind of where things got a little out of hand," said Fredrickson. "We just had too many mental mistakes and that's the biggest thing I think we need to learn. Just how to eliminate those mental mistakes and find a way to shake them off and move on to the next play."
On the mound for the Knights was Cody Wichmann, who began Friday's outing with a tone-setting 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first that included two of his 11 total strikeouts. Wichmann went on to deliver two more scoreless innings in the second and third innings while adding three more strikeouts in the process.
At the plate, the Knights struggled to solve KMS starting pitcher Alex Call, who went the distance for the Saints surrendering just five hits in six innings pitched. The Knights' first hit came on the very first pitch of the game when Aiden Wichmann delivered a base hit but was left stranded after stealing second. Hayden Gravley added a base hit in the second inning but was caught stealing--leaving the two teams scoreless through three complete.
Fredrickson felt his team had the upper hand at that point of the contest.
"In those first couple innings I would say we were the better team," said Fredrickson. "I thought we were taking better at-bats. I thought Cody on the mound was the better pitcher to start the game, and I think it showed that as long as we're staying focused and doing the things that we need to do I think we can compete with anybody. We just have to stay focued, that's the trick."
The wheels began to fall off in the top half of the fourth inning when the Saints' leadoff hitter reached on a dropped third strike. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Jared Cortez stepped to the plate and connected for a bases-clearing double to give KMS a 3-0 lead. The Saints went on to add a fourth run later in the inning on a wild pitch.
The score remained 4-0 heading into the latter half of the fifth when the Saints added another two runs on an RBI ground-rule double and an RBI base hit to make it 6-0. Gravley took over for Wichmann on the hill to begin the sixth inning as the offensive onslaught continued for KMS with five more runs coming across to make it 11-0.
The Knights would get one back in their final time up as Cody Wichmann reached base with a walk before Corbyn Sitzmann advanced him into scoring position with a base hit. Gravley, who led RTR with two hits, delivered the team's only run on an RBI single to make it 11-1. With no additional runs scored, the game came to an end after six innings as a result of the 10-run rule.
RTR will look to bounce back on Tuesday when the team hosts Minneota in the final game of the regular season. Looking ahead, Fredrickson said it will be crucial for his team to shake off the mental mistakes in order to remain focued.
"I think we need to build off of just staying focused the whole time and not letting those mental mistakes take us completely out of our game," said Fredrickson.
KMS 000 425 x -- 11 10 0
RTR 000 001 x -- 1 5 0
Hitting: RTR (Gravley 2-2, RBI, A. Wichmann 1-3, Sitzmann 1-2, Christianson 1-3). Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): RTR (C. Wichmann 5-6-6-6-0-11, Gravley 1-5-5-4-1-1)