Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall Black’s Lincoln Graven (9) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a grand slam during their game against Marshall Orange on Thursday. Marshall Black defeated Marshall Orange 11-5.

MARSHALL — After getting their seasons started last weekend and earlier this week in South Dakota, the Marshall Junior Legion Black and VFW 15U Orange baseball teams came back home to square off against each other on Thursday evening. Marshall Orange took an early lead, but Marshall Black responded in the middle frames to earn an 11-5 victory.

Marshall Black assistant coach Beau Priegnitz said although they got out to a slow start, he was pleased with how his team responded over the course of the game.

“We talked to the boys about slow starts and we kind of did the same thing down in Brookings, but they’re a pretty mature group of guys and don’t stay down on each other and don’t get on each other if the bats aren’t hot right away,” Priegnitz said. “We did it again here, got the bats going and passed it down one at-bat at a time and hit the ball really well.”

Marshall Orange jumped out to a strong start on offense, as Jude Knudson drew a leadoff walk before Drew Parsons reached on an error and Karson Rowe connected on an RBI single to make it 1-0. After an error plated another run, Collin Klenken stepped up and smacked a two-run single to push their lead to 4-0 after a half-inning of play.

Marshall Black would respond in the bottom of the frame when Tyler Maeyaert and Andrew Wallen connected on back-to-back singles to bring in a run and get Marshall Black on the board. Marshall Black wasn’t done there, though, capitalizing on a string of walks and a double steal that led to a run to start the third before Lincoln Graven lined an RBI double to make it 4-3. One batter later, Talan Plante connected on an RBI single to tie things up at 4-4 after three.

After a scoreless fourth, both teams looked for a spark on the offensive end. Marshall Black struck first, as Maeyaert was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fifth before a walk by Wallen and a single by Parker Schmitt loaded the bases with no outs. Graven then stepped up and drove a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam and a couple of batters later, Ezra Maurice added a solo shot of his own to extend Marshall Black’s advantage to 9-4. Gavin Peterson and Coby Brownlee then connected on consecutive singles before an RBI groundout from Ashton Rowe made it 10-4.

In the sixth, Marshall Orange continued to battle and capitalized when Ashton Blomberg and Klenken smacked back-to-back doubles to plate a run and make it 10-5. But that was the closest they got, as Marshall Black answered with a run in the bottom half of the frame on a wild pitch to bring it to the 11-5 final.

“That JV team of sophomores is really talented, one of the most talented groups we’ve had run through here. I just told our guys that we needed to focus and have good effort throughout the whole thing; hitting and fielding will come natural so we wanted to keep it in play and make them sweat a little and I thought we did a good job,” Marshall 15U Orange co-coach Brad Bahlmann said. “We got a four-run lead right away, got out of the gates and put some pressure on them and we were up until the third and made them sweat and that’s what we wanted. We made a mistake here and there, but I thought we played well overall, they just have a little more talent than us.”

Klenken led Marshall Orange with two hits and three RBI while Karson Rowe added a hit and an RBI and Blomberg and Brayden Ust each had a hit.

Bahlmann said their key on offense, particularly in the first inning, was their ability to stick to their game and take advantage of some miscues made by Marshall Black.

“Just timely hitting and swinging the bats, moved some runners and played some small ball,” Bahlmann said. “We did our stuff and tried to make sure we weren’t making mistakes and we were able to get a couple of runs in off their mistakes.”

Parsons took the loss on the mound, going 2 1/3 innings while allowing four runs on two hits and struck out five.

Graven led Marshall Black with two hits, including the grand slam, and five RBI while Wallen added two hits and an RBI, Maurice had a home run and an RBI and Maeyaert, Schmitt, Plante, Peterson and Brownlee each had a hit.

Ashton Rowe earned the victory on the mound, going six innings while allowing five runs on five hits and struck out eight. Priegnitz said the key for Rowe on the mound was just settling down and staying balanced and in control with his pitches.

“Just kind of settling in,” Priegnitz said. “It was the same deal with the bats, he kind of got ahead of himself and tried to do too much, but once he settled in, balanced up a little more and trusted himself and his arm, he stayed around the zone.”

Up next

Marshall Black (3-0) will face New Ulm at home on Sunday in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. while Marshall Orange (1-2-1) will be at home against Adrian on Monday at 6 p.m.

Marshall Junior Legion Black 11, Marshall 15U Orange 5

Marshall Orange 400 001 0 – 5 5 3

Marshall Black 103 061 x – 11 10 3

Hitting: Marshall Black (Maeyaert 1-3; Wallen 2-2, RBI; Schmitt 1-3; Graven 2-2, GS, 5 RBI; Plante 1-3; Maurice 1-4, HR, RBI; Peterson 1-3; Brownlee 1-3; A. Rowe RBI); Marshall Orange (K. Rowe 1-4, RBI; Blomberg 1-1; Klenken 2-2, 3 RBI; Ust 1-2).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Marshall Black (A. Rowe 6-5-5-5-4-8; Maeyaert 1-0-0-0-1-3); Marshall Orange (Parsons 2.1-4-4-2-3-5; Myhre 2-5-5-5-1-0; Blomberg 1.2-2-0-1-1-1).