GRANITE FALLS — The Minneota baseball team made the most of its hits in a road matchup against Yellow Medicine East on Thursday. While Minneota finished with just three more hits, they consistently capitalized to capture a decisive 12-5 victory.

Among the key differences in the game was Minneota’s ability to battle for its pitch at the plate and to take advantage of it once it got it. The Vikings drew 12 walks on the day compared to just five for YME and finished with three extra-base hits compared to none for the Sting. Adam Dahlager, Carson Javers and Parker Bradley each doubled for Minneota.

Javers and Bradley also tied Ryan Meagher with a game-high two hits. Bradley was the only player to reach base four times in the game after walking twice while Eric Jimenez led the Sting with a single and a pair of walks.

Peyton Sheik picked up the win for the Vikings on the mound, holding YME to three earned runs and one unearned over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out six batters while allowing four hits and a walk before being relieved in the sixth.

Ryan Dahlager finished off the game, holding YME to one run over 1 2/3 frames. He struck out five batters while allowing two hits and a walk.

Minneota first captured the lead with three runs in the second inning and two runs in the third. From there, they scored a run in each of the next three innings to grab an 8-0 lead, their biggest of the day, before YME responded with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Still, the Vikings added another four runs in the seventh and shut YME down in the bottom of the frame to capture the win.

Connor Fagen started the day on the mound for YME< allowing five earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. Jake Peterson also pitched 3 1/3 frames of relief, allowing two earned runs and one unearned. Gage Wilke and Braden Nelson pitched two outs and one out respectively, with the former allowing four earned runs. Minneota improves to 7-4 with the win while Yellow Medicine East falls to 4-6. The Vikings will host Murray County Central for their next game on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. while Yellow Medicine East will head to Madison on Saturday for a tournament at Lac qui Parle Valley. The Sting will take on Border West at 1 p.m. and LQPV at 3:30 p.m. TMB 4, CMC 0

PRINSBURG — Connor Lanoue and Noah Knakmuhs combined to throw a shutout for the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton baseball team on Thursday. The Panthers’ pitching and defensive efforts led the team to a 4-0 victory over Central Minnesota Christian.

Lanoue got the start on the mound, holding CMC to three hits and three walks over five innings. He also struck out five batters before being relieved to start the sixth inning.

Knakmuhs came in with a 1-0 lead and the opportunity to pick up a save and he did not waste it. He threw two shutout innings, holding CMC to just one hit while striking out a pair of batters.

Knakmuhs also secured his save at the plate as a hitter. Jeret Ankrum and Alex Schuh reached base consecutively to start the seventh inning and Trevor Smith drove in Ankrum after reaching base on an error. From there, Knakmuhs hit a two-run double to center field to give TMB a 4-0 lead.

Smith’s two hits were a game-high while Ankrum reached base three times with a single and a pair of walks. 

TMB first claimed the lead in the top of the first when Ankrum walked, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a balk for a 1-0 Panther lead.

TMB improves to 8-4 with the win and will go on the road to face off against Wabasso today at 4:30 p.m.

LQPV 11, Canby 0

MADISON — A lack of production at the plate doomed the Canby baseball team in its road matchup against Lac qui Parle Valley on Thursday night. The Eagles pitched a no-hitter in the game, marking the third straight game the Lancers have been shut out and the second time in that stretch that they’ve been held to one hit or fewer.

Liam MacArthur was the lone Lancer baserunner on the night, reaching twice on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. He was caught stealing after the walk in the top of the first but successfully stole after being hit by a pitch in the top of the fourth. Still, consecutive strikeouts prevented him from getting any farther than second base.

LQPV took the lead in the second inning with three runs but ran away with the game on a six-run fourth inning.

Colton Ruether pitched the first three innings for Canby, allowing 10 runs on seven hits and seven walks, while Bryant Hansen allowed one run on four hits in one inning of relief work.

Canby falls to 2-6 with the loss and will look to end its skid when it hosts Russell-Tyler-Ruthton today at 4:30 p.m.

KMS 27, Lakeview 7 (5)

COTTONWOOD — While the Lakers’ bats were firing just fine on Thursday against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, the Saints’ bats were just as strong. The Lakeview baseball team had no answer for the KMS offense and dropped the matchup 27-7.

The Fighting Saints held a 7-2 lead heading into the third inning when they eliminated all hope. KMS scored 18 runs in the frame on 16 hits and six walks. While they didn’t homer at all, they did record two triples and five doubles to extend their lead to 25-2.

Lakeview responded with a five-run inning of their own in the bottom of the fourth but it was too little, too late to stage a comeback.

Kyler Post and Teagan Neumann each recorded a pair of hits for Lakeview while Brooks Smith and Easton Schmidt each hit a double. Joe Caron walked twice.

Breylon Breyfogle recorded the loss on the mound after 2 1/3 innings of work while Kyler Post pitched the remainder of the game.

Lakeview falls to 1-8 with the loss and will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they go on the road to face off against Canby at 4:30 p.m.

PREP SOFTBALL

YME at TMB

TRACY — The Tracy-Milroy-Balaton softball team gave the Yellow Medicine East a sense of deja vu on Thursday. The Panthers swept both games of the teams’ doubleheader by a final score of 6-5, marking the third consecutive game YME has lost by that exact margin.

YME scored four runs in the first two innings to claim an early lead. After TMB scored its first run in the fourth inning, YME re-extended its lead to 5-1 on an Ella Cherveny RBI triple in the top of the sixth.

In the bottom of the sixth, however, TMB rallied. Jaida Fricke and Brianna Duscher reached base consecutively to start the inning and, with runners on the corners, Jordyn Hanson hit an RBI single to center to cut the TMB deficit to four runs.

Braelyn Kirk then singled to load up the bases and Melaina Ankrum hit a grand slam to give TMB its first lead of the game, 6-5. 

Ankrum’s homer was the second of the game after Alana Almich hit a three-run shot in the first inning to give YME its first lead of the game.

Fricke earned the pitching win for TMB, going six innings with five earned runs on nine hits and a walk. She also struck out five batters.

In relief, Ankrum earned the win with a scoreless seventh inning. She didn’t allow any walks or hits and struck out a batter.

Hanson led TMB with a pair of hits, including a double, while Cherveny had three hits for YME and Brianna Nelson had another two.

Bayli Sneller recorded the loss after holding TMB to four hits and a walk over six innings. She struck out eight batters and one of the six runs she allowed was unearned.

TMB carried the momentum from the first game into the second. Ankrum hit a two-run single to give TMB an initial lead in the top of the first, Avery Torgeson drove in another run on a groundout and Emma Chandler drove in yet another run after reaching on an error to make the score 4-0. 

Still, the Sting didn’t go down without a fight. Everra Leenerts hit a two-run single and Nelson hit another RBI single to cut TMB’s lead to 4-3 after the fourth inning. Nelson then drove in another two runs in the bottom of the sixth to give YME a 5-4 lead.

With one last chance to complete the sweep, TMB delivered in the top of the seventh. Fricke and Hanson reached on an error and a single respectively to put runners on the corners. Braelyn Kirk was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs but Ankrum came up with a clutch two-run single to left field to give TMB a 6-5 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, Fricke came in for the save and struck out two of the three batters she faced to secure the win.

In addition to pitching the final inning, Fricke also pitched the first four frames of the game, holding YME to three earned runs on five hits and two walks. She struck out four batters.

Melaina Ankrum pitched two innings of relief, allowing one earned run and one unearned on one hit and three walks.

Hanson and Ankrum each had a pair of hits for TMB while Sneller had two for YME.

Sneller again pitched all seven innings for the Sting. Of the six runs she allowed, only one was earned. She surrendered four hits and a pair of walks while striking out nine batters.

TMB improves to 6-7 with the win while YME falls to 4-12. The Panthers will look to grab their fourth consecutive win when they head to Raymond on Monday for a 4:30 p.m. matchup against MACCRAY. The Sting will look to avoid their fourth consecutive loss when they head to Danube for a doubleheader against Renville County West on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

RTR 8, A/E 1

ADRIAN — Kya Alderson did it all for the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton softball team on Thursday night. The senior threw a complete game in the circle and bopped a pair of home runs at the plate to lead the Knights to an 8-1 road win over Adrian-Ellsworth.

As a pitcher, Alderson struck out 17 of the 24 batters she faced, holding Adrian-Ellsworth to three hits and no walks. The only run she allowed came in the third inning, when she allowed a triple with two outs and a runner on. Still, she struck out the next batter she faced to keep RTR’s 6-1 lead intact.

The first of Alderson’s two homers came in the top of the first. Madi Burns and Laken Baartman had walked consecutively to start the inning when Alderson came up to hit a deep shot to left field for a three-run homer.

In the top of the seventh, Baartman led off the inning with a solo home run to make the score 7-1 and, two pitches later, Alderson hit another solo shot to make it 8-1.

Alderson finished the day with three hits and a walk for the Knights while Baartman had one hit and a pair of walks.

RTR improves to 11-2 with the win and will head out on the road to take on Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey on Saturday at noon.