Dawson-Boyd 9, Canby 8

CANBY — Colten Bothun came up strong in the clutch for the Dawson-Boyd baseball team in its Camden Conference matchup against Canby Thursday night. The Blackjacks and Lancers played a back-and-forth slugfest that took extra innings to determine a winner, but Bothun hit a solo home run in the first at-bat of the bottom of the eighth to give the Blackjacks a 9-8 win.

Bothun retired three of the four batters he faced on the mound in the top of the eighth to bring himself to the plate as the winning run in the bottom of the frame. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Bothun crushed the ball over the left-field wall to close out the win.

Bothun finished with a home run, a single, a walk, two stolen bases and three runs scored in the game. He also earned the pitching win after throwing the final four innings, holding Canby to three unearned runs on three hits and a pair of walks with three strikeouts.

Eli Olson got a no-decision in his start for the Blackjacks. He gave up three earned runs on eight hits and a pair of walks on six strikeouts over the first four frames.

Dawson-Boyd trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the third when its offense exploded. Singles by Kyan Moseng and Bothun, with an Olson walk in between, loaded the bases right away. Kameron Sather singled in the tying run, Nathan Hansen walked for the go-ahead run and Holland Schacherer pushed across another pair of runs with a single.

After a pitching change by the Lancers, Ace Larson hit a sacrifice fly for the inning’s fifth run — as well as the first out — and Olson singled in another run to give Dawson-Boyd a 7-2 win.

Jace Rangaard took the loss for Canby, limiting the Blackjacks to two earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks over five innings. Michael Tol pitched the first two innings, giving up seven earned runs on five hits and six walks.

Olson scored for the Blackjacks in the bottom of the first after singling and going home on a Hansen sacrifice fly. Yet, Canby surged ahead when Will Abrahamson was hit by a pitch before being singled in by Jace Sigler, and Rangaard singled in Sigler.

Canby scored three fourth-inning runs, and after a Dawson-Boyd run in the bottom of the frame, the Lancers tied things up in the top of the fifth.

Dyllon Christianson reached on an error and Matthew Zitzmann was hit by a pitch to start the fifth, and Cash Antony reached on an error to drive in one run. An Abrahamson single put the tying run in scoring position, and Ben Drietz hit a two-run double to knot up the score at eight runs apiece.

Ben Drietz hit a double and two singles for the Lancers, driving in a pair of runs in the process, while Rangaard logged three RBIs on a double and a single.

Dawson-Boyd improves to 6-2 and next takes on Redwood Valley and Springfield on Saturday in Milroy, starting at 10 a.m. Canby falls to 4-2 and hits the road to take on Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Friday at 4:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE

DAWSON-BOYD

E. Olson: 2-4, BB, RBI, SB, R, SO; C. Bothun: 2-4 (HR), BB, RBI, 3 R, 2 SB; K. Sather: 1-2, 2 BB, RBI, 2 R, 2 SB; N. Hansen: 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI, R; H. Schacherer: 1-4, 2 RBI, R, SO; A. Dahl: 1-2, 2 BB, SO; A. Larson: 0-4, RBI, SO; K. Moseng: 2-2, R; J. Shugel: 1-1.

PITCHING

E. Olson: 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO; C. Bothun: W, 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 SO.

CANBY

BATTING

C. Antony: 0-4, BB, RBI, 2 R, SB, 2 SO; W. Abrahamson: 1-3, HBP, BB, 2 R, SB; C. Stoll: 1-4, BB, RBI; J. Sigler: 2-5, RBI, 2 R; B. Drietz: 3-5 (2B), 2 RBI, R, SO; J. Rangaard: 2-5 (2B), 3 RBI, SO; M. Tol: 2-5, SO; D. Christianson: 0-4, BB, SO; M. Zitzmann: 0-3, HBP, SO.

PITCHING

M. Tol: 2 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 6 BB, 2 SO; J. Rangaard: L, 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB; 7 SO.

Minneota 4, CMC 3

MINNEOTA — The early offense of the Minneota baseball team helped the Vikings get above .500 for the first time this season on Thursday night. Minneota scored three runs in the first two innings and their defense did the rest from there, claiming a 4-3 win over Central Minnesota Christian.

CMC scored on a passed ball with two outs in the top of the first, but that would be the only time the Bluejays were in front. With two outs in the bottom of the frame, Carson Javers was hit by a pitch and Mason Javers sent him home with a two-run homer to center field.

Mason Javers finished the night with a game-high three RBIs, and Creed Stassen finished with a pair of singles.

Beckham Gaalswyk earned the pitching win for Minneota, throwing two scoreless innings of relief with no hits, no walks and three strikeouts. Landon Esping threw the first two innings, giving up two earned runs on two hits with a pair of strikeouts.

Also in relief, Creed Stassen gave up one earned run on a pair of hits and a pair of walks over 1 1/3, and Carson Javers threw 1 2/3 shutout frames while giving up three hits.

Sawyer Bradley bolstered the Vikings lead when he walked, advanced to third on an Ian Myhre double and scored on a passed ball in the third.

CMC came back within a run with an RBI single in the fourth, but Carson Javers doubled and scored on a Mason Javers ground out in the fifth to bring the cushion right back to two runs.

CMC loaded the bases with one out in the top of the sixth on a single, a hit batter and a walk. Another single pushed across one run, but Carson Javers picked off a runner to escape the jam and retired three of the four batters he faced in the seventh to close out the win.

Minneota now sits at 5-4 on the season and looks to climb further above .500 when it heads to Granite Falls to take on Yellow Medicine East on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE

BATTING

I. Myhre: 1-3 (2B), HBP, SB, SO; C. Javers: 1-2 (2B), HBP, 2 R; M. Javers: 1-3 (HR), 3 RBI, R; C. Stassen: 2-3; L. Esping: 0-2, HBP, 2 SO; L. Pohlen: 0-2, BB, SO; S. Bradley: 0-1, 2 BB, R, SB.

PITCHING

L. Esping: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO; B. Gaalswyk: 2 IP, 3 SO; C. Stassen: 1.1 IP, 2 H, R, ER, 2 BB, 3 SO; C. Javers: 1.2 IP, 3 H, SO.