Dawson 8, Cottonwood 6

DAWSON — A pair of homers from Luke Kuno helped power the Dawson Drakes’ offense on Sunday as they held off the Cottonwood Cardinals for an 8-6 win. 

Kuno hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to give the Drakes a 5-3 lead and hit another two-run shot in the sixth to extend the advantage to 7-3. He also singled on the day and drove in five runs in his three at-bats. 

The Drakes took the lead in the bottom of the first when Derek Gritmacker drove in Blake Thompson with a double and then scored himself when Braden Thompson reached on an error.

Cottonwood got back into the game when Caden Steffen hit an RBI single in the top of the second and the Cardinals claimed a 3-2 lead when Jacob Rausch singled and scored on a passed ball and Jordan Fischer walked and scored on a Caine Herigon ground out. Yet, Kuno’s homer in the bottom of the frame put the Drakes in control for the remainder of the game. 

Braxton got the win on the mound for Dawson, allowing five runs on six hits and four walks over seven innings. In relief, Gritmacher held on for the save after allowing one run on three hits over two innings.

Aaron Lienemann drove in Herigon and Nate Jensen on a double in the seventh inning to make it a two-run game and, after the Drakes responded with one run of their own in the bottom of the seventh, Jensen hit a sacrifice fly to score Steffen to make it an 8-6 game with two outs in the ninth. Lienemann singled to bring the tying run to the plate but a ground out allowed the Drakes to escape with the win.

Seth Boerboom allowed one earned run and one unearned on two hits and no walks in the start for Cottonwood. He was relieved to start the fourth, where Austin Timm was tagged for three runs on a hit and a walk after getting replaced by Wyatt Schuster with one out.

Schuster surrendered two earned runs and one unearned on four hits over 4 2/3 innings.

Steffen finished the game with three hits for Cottonwood while Lienemann had two hits and a pair of RBIs. Both batters finished with a double as well.

For the Drakes, Kuno led the team with three hits for nine total bases while Gritmacker added a single, a double and an RBI.

Cottonwood falls to 1-4 with the loss while Dawson improves to 1-5. The Cardinals will host Morris on Sunday at 2 p.m. for their next game while Dawson will host Minneota on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Rosen 4, Minneota 3

ROSEN — A seventh-inning rally made the difference in Sunday’s matchup between Minneota and Rosen. With the Mudhens leading by a run, the Express responded with a pair of its own to claim a 4-3 victory.

Dru Boots walked and Cole Weinkauf laid down a bunt and reached on an error to put the go-ahead run on second for the Express. Minneota got a ground out to put one away but consecutive RBI singles from Preston Kraft and Devin Boots gave the Express the lead.

On the defensive end, Rosen retired six of the next seven Minneota batters — the exception being a Tate Walerius single — to shut the door on the Mudhens.

Rosen first claimed the lead with a pair of runs in the third inning but the Mudhens’ offense responded accordingly. A Peyton Gillund double, Ben Skorczewski getting hit by a pitch and Tyson Sonnenburg singling loaded the bases before AJ Myhre hit a sacrifice fly to put Minneota on the board in the fifth. Danny Hennen then hit a solo shot to left field in the first at-bat of the sixth inning to tie up the game.

Skorczewski gave the Mudhens the lead in the top of the seventh when he singled and scored on a Myhre double. Yet, the lead didn’t last long as Rosen regained the lead in the bottom of the frame.

Ryan Dalager pitched the first six innings for the Mudhens, striking out 12 batters while walking just three. He allowed two earned runs and one unearned on six hits.

In relief, Hennen was tagged with the loss after allowing one unearned run on two hits and no walks over two frames.

Minneota falls to 6-6 on the season with the loss. They will look to get back above .500 when they go on the road to face the Dawson Drakes on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Jackson 8, Hadley 1

WINDOM — The Hadley Buttermakers had no answer for the Jackson Bulls’ bats in the third inning of the teams’ Sunday matchup. Jackson scored six third-inning runs to pull away for an 8-1 win.

Jackson earned three straight walks to start the inning and finished the frame with another four hits to push the six runs across. The rally gave the Bulls an 8-0 lead.

Tucker Sorenson fell to 1-2 on the season after surrendering seven earned runs on three hits and three walls over 2 1/3 frames. In relief, Avery Weber held the Bulls scoreless for 3 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and no walks, but a lack of run support prevented him and Hadley from getting back into the game.

Jacob Olson and Austin Irlbeck walked consecutively to start the ninth inning. Owen Gillette pinch ran for Olson and, after advancing to third on a passed ball, he scored Hadley’s lone run of the game on a Skyler Feikema ground out.

Hadley falls to 6-5 with the loss and will look to avoid its third in a row when it goes on the road to face the Milroy Yankees on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Lamberton 4, Essig 0

LAMBERTON — Eli Fest mowed down batters left and right on Sunday to propel the Lamberton Long Sox past Essig for a 4-0 win.

Fest earned the win for Lamberton on the mound, holding Essig scoreless for seven innings while allowing just four hits and a walk. He struck out 17 of the 25 batters he faced on the day.

Will Carlson scored the game’s go-ahead run on a Seth Guetter sacrifice fly in the top of the first after hitting the leadoff double. In the fifth, he followed a Quintyn Vold walk up with a single and, after Holden Salfer was hit to load the bases, Neil Eichten hit a two-run single and Guetter hit an RBI single to make the score 4-0.

In relief, Brady Bierl tossed a shutout eighth inning and Eichten tossed a shutout ninth. Both pitchers retired each of the three batters they faced.

Lamberton improves to 7-2 with the win and will head out on the road to take on Fairfax on Friday.

16U FASTPITCH

SF Flash 10, Marshall 5