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

BATTING

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.

MCC 16, HLOF 4 (5 inn.)

SLAYTON — The Murray County Central baseball team exploded for 10 first-inning runs in its Thursday Red Rock Conference matchup against Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda, cruising to a 16-4 win in five innings to claim its 10th consecutive win to start the season.

Teague Meyer led MCC’s bats with two doubles, a single, a walk and two RBIs. Krew Schneider also contributed a pair of singles and four RBIs, and Carter Hanson drove in three runs on two doubles and a single.

Tristan Behrends picked up the pitching win, throwing three perfect innings with five strikeouts. Cayden Veldhuisen gave up a pair of earned and a pair of unearned runs over 1/3 innings, and Finn Schneider closed out the game with a scoreless final 1 2/3 innings.

MCC logged four hits, four walks, a pair of hit batters and reached on an error to generate its 10 first-inning runs. They scored two more in the second and four more in the third before HLOF got on the board with four fourth-inning runs, but a shutout fifth kept the mercy rule intact.

MCC is now 10-0 and looks to continue rolling when it hosts Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, Monday at 4:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE

BATTING

T. Meyer: 3-3 (2B), BB, 2 RBI, 2 R; T. Behrends: 0-1, BB, HBP; D. Kluis: 1-2 (2B), HBP; D. Hanson: 0-1, R; K. Schneider: 2-3, 4 RBI, 2 R; C. Lewis: 1-3 (2B), 2 R, SB; F. Schneider: 0-0, BB; C. Veldhuisen: 0-3, BB, R; D. Larson: 0-1, BB, RBI, R; G. Tentinger: 1-1, 2 HBP, RBI, 3 R, SB; C. Hanson: 3-3 (2B), 3 RBI, 2 R.

PITCHING

T. Behrends: W, 3 IP, 5 SO; C. Veldhuisen: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, SO; F. Schneider: 1.2 IP, H, BB, 2 SO.

YME at Ortonville

ORTONVILLE — Gunnar Fagen threw a complete-game shutout and drove in three runs on a pair of doubles for the Yellow Medicine East baseball team Thursday, helping the Sting down Ortonville 10-0 in Camden Conference play to get back above .500.

Over his five innings on the mound, Fagen struck out six batters while limiting the Trojans to a pair of hits with no walks. At the plate, Fagen’s pair of doubles and a walk resulted in him scoring a pair of runs.

A Lane Wohlman single and a Gavin Torvik ground out each drove in a run in the top of the first to give YME an early lead, and they added three more in the second on a Cal Almich RBI single and a two-run double from Fagen.

The Sting continued to pull away from there, scoring one more run in the third and two more in each of the ensuing two innings to trigger the mercy rule.

YME improves to 5-4 and next takes on Renville County West on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The game was still in progress at the time of print.

BOX SCORE

BATTING

D. Monsoon: 2-4 (2B), SO; H. Kuehn: 1-2, BB, HBP, SB, R; G. Fagen: 2-3 (2 2B), BB, 3 RBI, 2 R, SB; L. Wohlman: 2-4, 3 RBI; G. Torvik: 0-2, BB, RBI, R, 2 SB; C. Lien: 1-3, SB; D. Hildahl:2-3 (2B), R, SB; K. Blankenhagen: 0-0, BB, R; C. Almich: 1-3, RBI, R, SO.

PITCHING

G. Fagen: W, 5 IP, 2 H, 6 SO.

Sleepy Eye 3, Wabasso 1

WABASSO — In the first of two games on the day for the Wabasso baseball team, Brady Baune’s strong pitching effort wasn’t enough to get the Rabbits into the win column. Wabasso held Sleepy Eye scoreless for the game’s final five innings, but a lack of run support left them with a 3-1 Tomahawk Conference loss.

Sleepy Eye took the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first before Drew Kemp doubled before scoring on a Jayden Remiger ground out in the bottom of the frame. Yet, that would be the last run of the day for the Rabbits as Sleepy Eye’s pitching held strong from there.

Brooks Baune took the loss on the mound, giving up two earned and one unearned run on four hits and three walks over the first three innings. Brady Baune pitched the remaining four shutout innings, holding the Indians without a hit and to just two walks.

Christian Ricketts also singled twice in the game for Wabasso.

Wabasso 7, RRC/WWG 3

LAMBERTON — Brooks Baune’s three-run double turned the tide in the Wabasso baseball team’s offense in its non-conference matchup against Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Thursday. The Rabbits persevered through the rain and jumped ahead with four third-inning runs to top the Falcons 7-3.

Wabasso trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, but singles from Drew Kemp and Jack Burns with a Brady Baune walk in between loaded the bases. Another walk to Jayden Remiger pushed across one run, and Brooks Baune broke the game open with a three-run double.

RRC/WWG took its lone lead of the day in the top of the frame on a Colton Schaffran home run to center field.

Drew Kemp picked up the win for the Rabbits, giving up two earned runs on six hits and four walks over the first four innings. He also struck out seven batters.

Joe Rohlik reached base on a fielder’s choice in the fifth and stole his way around the basepaths for another insurance run for Wabasso.

Jordan Therkilsen took the loss for Wabasso after giving up four earned runs on three hits and three walks over 2 1/3 frames.

In addition to Schaffran’s offensive production, the Falcons also got three singles and a pair of stolen bases from Jake Erickson.

RRC/WWG loaded the bases in the fifth on an Erickson single and walks to Therkilsen and Schaffran. Erickson scored on a passed ball and Jonah Skarupa was hit by a pitch to make it a one-run game with one out and the bases loaded, but a strikeout and a fielder’s choice left the go-ahead runs stranded.

Kemp walked and Brady Baune singled before both scored on a Jack Burns double in the sixth. RRC brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh when Trenton Blomgren and Skarupa walked to start the frame, but a pair of strikeouts and a pop out to the pitcher ended the game.

RRC/WWG falls to 3-7 on the season and next heads to Slayton to take on undefeated Murray County Central, Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Wabasso improves to 3-9 and returns to Tomahawk Conference play with a road matchup against Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Monday at 5 p.m.