Cottonwood 9, Ortonville 7

ORTONVILLE — The Cottonwood Cardinals snapped their three-game skid on Sunday when their bats erupted for a 9-7 win over the Ortonville Rox. The win was the first of two games for the Cardinals on the day as they followed up with a second game against the Appleton A’s.

The Cardinals trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the third when Cody St. Aubin walked, advanced to third when Austin Timm walked and Seth Boerboom reached on an error, and then scored the tying run when Jacob Ruasch grounded into a fielder’s choice.

One inning later, the Cardinals seized the lead.

Caden Steffen, Taiven Isaackson and Ayden St. Pierre singled consecutively, with Steffen scoring the go-ahead run on St. Pierre’s single. Noah Jensen then grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Isaackson, giving the Cardinals an extra insurance run.

The Rox got a run back in the bottom of the frame but were never able to tie it back up. A Jensen single and a Timm fielder’s choice pushed across another pair of runs for the Cardinals in the sixth and Steffen drove in another run in the seventh to give Cottonwood a 7-3 lead, their largest of the game.

Wyatt Schuster earned the win on the mound for Cottonwood. While he allowed five runs over eight innings, four of them were unearned. He allowed eight hits and a walk while striking out a pair of batters. In relief, Seth Boerboom allowed two earned runs on a two-run home run and then a two-out single, but he escaped the inning to earn the save.

Cottonwood struck first in the top of the first when Aaron Lienemann walked, advanced to third on a Boerboom double and scored on a Rausch ground out. Still, the Rox jumped ahead with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.

St. Pierre led Cottonwood offensively with three hits on the day while Isaackson and Jensen each added another two. Rausch and Boerboom’s doubles were the Cardinals’ only extra-base hits.

Ortonville scored one run in the seventh and eighth innings but Cottonwood tagged on an extra pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth to keep the Rox at bay. The Cardinal runs came courtesy of Rausch reaching on an error and scoring on a passed ball, and Isaackson singling, stealing second and scoring on a St. Pierre single.

Each team had 11 hits on the day. Cottonwood also committed five errors to Ortonville’s three.

Cottonwood 10, Appleton 6

ORTONVILLE — An early barrage of runs gave the Cottonwood Cardinals all the run support they needed in the nightcap of their Sunday doubleheader. The Cardinals pulled away for a 10-6 win over Appleton, allowing them to triple their season win total in a day.

The Cardinals scored three runs in the first inning on Seth Boerboom and Caden Steffen singles and a Taiven Isaackson ground out. The A’s responded with four runs off two Cottonwood errors in the second inning but that was the last time Cottonwood would trail.

In the top of the third, a Jacob Rausch walk and a Steffen double gave Cottonwood two runners in scoring position. Isaackson singled in Rausch for the tying run and Steffen scored on a passed ball for the go-ahead run.

Boerboom got the win in game two after tossing the full nine innings. His 128 pitches in the game brought him to a daily total of 146 on the day after earning the save in the Cardinals’ first game against Ortonville. In game 2, Boerboom struck out eight batters while allowing 13 hits and a walk. Four of the six runs he allowed were unearned.

Cottonwood’s largest lead of the day came after the top of the fourth. Cody St. Aubin and Noah Jensen singled to start the frame and Boerboom drilled an RBI single to push one run across. With two outs, Steffen followed up with a two-run single to center field to give the Cardinals an 8-4 advantage.

Appleton scored one run in the fifth and another in the seventh but never recovered. Timm scored Rausch with an RBI single in the ninth and Isaackson scored on a passed ball in the next at-bat to give Cottonwood an extra pair of insurance runs.

Jensen and Steffen each had three hits in the game for Cottonwood, including two doubles for Jensen and another for Steffen. Steffen’s three RBIs were also a game-high. Jordan Fischer and Isaackson each had a single and a pair of walks while Boerboom singled twice.

Cottonwood and Appleton each tallied 13 hits on the day. Cottonwood also overcame committing five errors while the A’s committed none.

Cottonwood, now 3-5 on the season, will look to pick up its fourth consecutive win when it hosts Dumont on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Minneota 2, Morris 0

MORRIS — A pair of early runs were all the Minneota Mudhens needed to capitalize on a stellar pitching performance from Ryan Dalager on Monday. The 19-year-old starting pitcher tossed a complete-game shutout to shut down Morris for a 2-0 Minneota victory.

Beyond just keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard, Dalager kept them off the base paths as well. He struck out 14 batters over his nine frames on the hill, surrendering four hits and four walks while earning the win.

Peyton Gillund scored the game’s first run. He hit a single with one out in the first inning and advanced to third on an Alex Pohlen double. From there, Austin Buysse lined a ball to center field for the go-ahead RBI single.

A double play ended the first-inning rally but the Mudhens picked up where they left off in the second. AJ Myhre got on base with a single and, with two outs, he advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Brock Buysse single.

The Mudhens were shut out for the remainder of the game but their two runs in the first two frames were more than enough to pick up the win.

Gillund, Pohlen, Buysse and Skorczewski each finished with a pair of hits in the game while Myhre had a single and a walk. Both of Pohlen’s hits were doubles.

Minneota has now won four consecutive games to improve to 10-6 on the season. The Mudhens will look to make it five straight when they go on the road to face Hancock on Sunday at 5 p.m.

Lamberton 9, Searles 2

LAMBERTON — A six-run eighth inning put the game away for the Lamberton Long Sox on Sunday. The team capitalized on its late offensive success to hold off Searles for a 9-2 win, the first of two victories on the day for Lamberton.

Carter Benz pitched the first two shutout innings for Lamberton, striking out three batters while allowing one walk. Hudsen Jenniges then tossed the next three innings of relief, allowing one run in the fifth, while earning the win. Jenniges allowed four hits and three walks.

Holden Salfer scored the go-ahead run in the first inning when he walked, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a Seth Guetter single. Hudsen Jenniges added another run in the third when he walked and scored on a pair of wild pitches and Guetter made the score 3-1 in the fourth when he reached on an error before scoring on a Derrick Jenniges single.

Searles made it a one-run game after a pair of singles drove in one run in the seventh, but 3-2 was as close as they made it.

Derrick and Hudsen Jenniges started the Long Sox’s eighth-inning ally by reaching on a single and a walk. Will Carlson was intentionally walked to load the bases and then Salfer and Neil Eichten each drove in a run to make the score 5-2. Salfer, Eichten and Eli Fest each went on to score as well to cap off the game’s scoring at 9-2.

Lamberton 4, Sleepy Eye 2

LAMBERTON — The Lamberton Long Sox continued their strong defensive play on Sunday by holding off Sleepy Eye for a 4-2 win. The victory was their third in their last four games.

The Long Sox struck first in the top of the second. Seth Guetter reached on an error and Will Carlson singled to put two runners on. From there, Eli Fest hit a two-run single to give the Long Sox control.

Neil Eichten singled before scoring on a Fest single in the fourth inning and Feth singled before scoring on a Kyle Krzmarzick single in the sixth, making the lead 4-0.

Brady Bierl started the game for Lamberton, holding Sleepy Eye scoreless for the first seven innings. He struck out six batters while allowing four hits and a pair of walks.

Sleepy Eye scored one run with Jake Wahl on the mound in the eighth and another with Eichten on in the ninth. Still, the Long Sox held on and Eichten earned the save.

Lamberton improves to 10-4 overall and and 8-4 in the Tomahawk East in the wins. Their league record currently has them in fifth place. The Long Sox will look to improve upon that mark when they go on the road to face Wabasso tonight at 7:30 p.m.