Photo by Jake McNeill Marshall pitcher Mitchell Bouwman throws from the mound during the second inning of a Corn Belt League baseball game against the Sacred Heart Saints at American Legion Field in Marshall on Friday night. The A’s defeated the Saints 3-1.

MARSHALL — Mitchell Bouwman kept the Sacred Heart Saints’ bats under wraps on Friday night. The Marshall pitcher combined for a no-hitter with Charlie Jacobson in the A’s last game against Sacred Heart, a season-opening 6-5 road win, and was efficient again at home as Marshall held on for a 3-1 victory. 

Last time against the Saints, Bouwman struck out 17 batters over 8 2/3 frames. On Friday Bouwman earned the win after striking out eight batters allowing just one earned run on three hits and a pair of walks.

“Confidence level was high, I think it was a little too high,” Bouwman said after the game. “Just tried doing too much myself and not letting the team work for me, so just trying to keep that under control is something I need to do in the future.”

Bouwman’s one hiccup came in the fourth inning when Griffin Howard hit a leadoff single and a pair of wild pitches advanced him to third. Another walk and a stolen base by Isaac Strommer put runners on second and third with no outs and Jose Ortiz followed up with an RBI single and a stolen base to get in scoring position. Yet, Bouwman got a fly out and a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage to one run, keeping the game tied at 1-1. 

“It was more having Oley and Schwags [third base coach Zach Olson and manager-catcher Ryan Schwagel] come tell me that I’m doing too much and I just need to rely on my own stuff and stop trying to do it all myself,” Bouwman said of his ability to get back into form after the jam. “Just let the team work for me. I think that’s the biggest thing that I have a problem with, coming from high-strikeout games. I just get used to that so I don’t let the teamwork for me, so just have to go off that.”

Marshall scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the third inning. Peyton Grant hit a leadoff double into center field to get in scoring position and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Chase Douglas didn’t leave him there for long, coming up with the go-ahead RBI single in the next at-bat. 

With the game tied at one run apiece, Connor Neubeck walked in the bottom of the sixth and advanced to second on a ground out. Logan Tomasek then hit a ground ball to short but Neubeck timed his run well, hopping over the ball just before it got to the shortstop, screening the defender’s vision and allowing the ball to reach the outfield. Neubeck then rounded third and got home for the go-ahead run. 

Jack Howard tossed all eight innings for Sacred Heart. He allowed three earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks while striking out seven batters on the day. 

AJ Toulouse led off the seventh by dropping a double into no man’s land in center field and scored on a hard grounder up the middle from Douglas that found its way into the outfield for a single. 

Logan Terfehr tossed the earned the three-inning save for Marshall after relieving Bouwman to start the seventh. He struck out six batters in the game while allowing just one hit and no walks. 

Liam Kruse launched a pitch into the center field ivy for a standup triple with one out in the eighth but consecutive outs left him stranded. 

Marshall finished the day with seven hits to Sacred Heart’s four. Chase Douglas led all players with two hits and two RBIs on the day while Coby Brownlee also reached twice on a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

Seeing stars

Bouwman, Grant and Wes Sarsland were each selected to today’s Corn Belt-Tomahawk East All-Star Game in Essig at 4 p.m. Each of the A’s three All-Stars earned their second nod this year, with Bouwman and Grant each getting both of their All-Star selections as A’s and Sarsland getting his first during his days in Belle Plaine. 

Up next

Marshall improves to 11-6 overall and their 7-4 record in the Corn Belt keeps them third in the league. Except for the three All-Stars, the A’s will go on the road today at 2 p.m. for their final non-league game at Hadley and then will play again on Sunday at Willmar at 1:30 p.m. 

“Just go in and get our hacks,” Schwagel said on the team’s approach to the rematch against the Buttermakers today. “Get some guys some playing time, have some fun and keep it rolling into Sunday.”

Last time out against Hadley, Owen Kesteloot came up with a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to hand Marshall a 3-2 walk-off victory. Jake Eben tossed seven shutout innings while Karson Rowe earned the decision after two innings of relief. The A’s also defeated Willmar 7-2 back on May 28.