Clutch hitting helps Kilowatts down Irish

GRANITE FALLS — Despite six dormant innings in the middle of the game, the Granite Falls Kilowatts came up clutch when it mattered most in their non-conference matchup against the Milroy Irish on Friday night. Bennett Knapper and Bryce Sneller each drove in runs in the bottom of the eighth, breaking the tie and setting the Kilowatts up for a 6-4 win.

“The Milroy Irish, they’ve always had very good baseball, hat’s off to them, but it’s early in the year and we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves,” Granite Falls manager Mike Richter said. “[In the eighth inning] we had some of our veterans coming up, and we just had to get one guy on base and it worked out. Bennett came up with a big, big hit. Bryce came up with a big hit. Colton [Vien] came up with a big hit and we kind of strung some pitchers together today. It’s early in the season, same thing with their guys … but it was a fun game.”

Tied at four runs apiece, Hunter Wilke hit a leadoff single and scored the go-ahead run on a Knapper double in the next at-bat. Sneller followed up with an RBI single to give Granite Falls a two-run cushion heading into the final inning.

Tyler Peterson was hit by a pitch and Konnor Zick reached on an error in the ninth to put the tying run on base for the Irish with one out. Yet, Wilke got a strikeout and a ground out to get out of the jam and earn the win on the mound.

Knapper finished the day with a double, two singles and an RBI, while Sneller, Vien and Wilke each contributed another pair of hits.

Wilke threw the final five innings of relief for Granite Falls, holding the Irish to a pair of earned runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts. Sneller threw the first four frames, allowing one earned run on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

“The guys have been working hard this spring. They’ve been hitting in the cage, and they’ve been hitting- that’s one thing I’m very happy with,” Richter said. “We’ve had double-digit hits and played pretty good baseball. I mean, it’s always a little tough with windy conditions, mauve a few guys out of position, but overall I was very happy with our pitching.”

The Irish trailed 4-0 early, but cut the deficit in half in the third. Dominic Dolan singled before scoring on a deep double by Trevor Smith. Peterson reached on an error and Noah Knakmuhs was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out, and a wild pitch pushed across the Irish’s second run of the day, but Sneller struck out each of the next two batters to limit the damage.

Milroy tied up the game with another apir of runs in the top of the sixth. Moses and Dominic Dolan each singled to put the tying runs on base with one out, and an RBI single from Smith scored Moses and Dominic scored on a wild pitch to knot up the score at four runs apiece.

“There’s a lot of fight in this team, and battling back, I thought we put together good at-bats and we weren’t easy outs,” Milroy manager Anthony Dolan said.

Dominic Dolan and Smith each accounted for three hits for the Irish, including a double and two RBIs for Smith, while Andrew Wallen added a single and a double.

After giving up a pair of earned and a pair of unearned runs in the first, Craig Lasley went on to pitch an ultra-efficient seven innings for the Irish. Throwing just 83 pitches, he limited the Kilowatts to seven hits with no walks and a pair of strikeouts on the day, shutting out Granite Falls for his final six innings on the hill.

“Craig Lasley was a phenomenal force, keeping them off balance. If we don’t kick the ball around there a couple times, they maybe only score one or two in that first inning instead of a four-spot,” Anthony Dolan said. “I only intended to throw him six innings, we ended up throwing him seven because he had such a low pitch count because he was so efficient keeping them off balance.”

Peterson was charged with the loss after surrendering a pair of earned runs on four hits in the eighth.

Granite Falls made a statement in the bottom of the first, jumping out to a commanding four-run lead. Singles by Nixon Knapper, Bennett Knapper and Sneller loaded the bases with one out, and Vien capitalized with a two-run single. Drew Almich also reached on an error as another run scored, and Phil Johnson drove in a fourth run on a fielder’s choice.

Granite Falls improves to 2-0 and next hosts the Cottonwood Cardinals on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

The Irish are now 3-2 and host the New Ulm Brewers on Friday at 7:30 p.m.