“I was just looking to put something into play, and see what happens after that,” Christensen said regarding his mindset when approaching the plate. “That curve ball kind of caught me by surprise, but I sat back long enough to drive it right field.”

Ryan Dalager, also a redshirt freshman pitcher for Southwest Minnesota State University, came up clutch on the mound for the Mudhens in relief. He limited Appleton in its opportunities to reach base by tossing nine strikeouts in his 4 2/3 innings pitched, allowing just one hit and two walks.

After Appleton scored its two runs in the first two innings, the Mudhens shutout the A’s the remainder of the night while working to tie the score up themselves. Minneota scored one run in each the fourth and fifth innings, while the next three frames went scoreless to set up the Mudhens’ in walk-off contention.

In the bottom of the ninth, Larson stepped up to the plate and hit a leadoff single on the first pitch he saw with a grounder to short-center field to reach base. A sacrifice bunt from Guy Cardinal moved Larson to second to get in scoring position.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota Mudhens' Brody Larson smiles after scoring the game-winning run against Appleton Friday night in Minneota.

Christensen then stepped up, and instead of falling to intimidation while Appleton had two outs, he saw two pitches before connecting on a hard line drive to right field to allow Larson enough time to go all the way home from second base to score the game-winning run.

“[I was thinking], you know, if he [Larson] doesn’t score, so what? We go to extra innings and we get to have another chance, but we scored him, it’s done and now I want to go home,” Christensen said, laughing.

Minneota ran out onto the field to meet both Larson and Christensen to celebrate the exhilarating comeback win in front of its home crowd.

“It feels good [to win the home opener]. I always play better at home, so that’s a good part about it,” Christensen said.

Christensen also just wrapped up his junior year at Minneota High School, and plays for the Vikings’ varsity baseball team as well.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota Mudhens' Ryan Dalager throws a pitch against Appleton Friday night in Minneota.

The Mudhens initially tied the score up in the fifth inning with Ian Myhre scoring on a Creed Stassen RBI single. Myhre walked to reach base, stole second and got onto third with an Adam Dalager sacrifice hit.

Landon Esping got Minneota on the board in the fourth inning to cut into the 2-1 deficit, scoring on an RBI line-drive single from Cardinal. Esping also scored from second base, as he first reached with a single then stole second.

Ryan Dalager stepped in to relieve Larson on the mound in the top of the fifth inning.

To highlight his performance, Ryan Dalager threw three straight strikeouts in the sixth, and also worked his way out of a jam in the top of the ninth in the A’s last plate appearance. Appleton got two runners on base, yet a pair of strikeouts and an Ian Myhre force-out play from shortstop to second ended the inning, just prior to Christensen’s walk-off.

Minneota finished with seven hits and two errors to the A’s four hits and one error.

Photo by Samantha Davis: The Minneota Mudhens baseball team celebrates with one another after coming away with a 3-2 walk-off win against Appleton Friday night in Minneota.

“We just keep propping each other up,” Christensen said of Minneota’s battle. “Even if something bad happens, we just lift each other up. Just do better next time, and we won as a team.”

Minneota (1-2) will next return back to its home field to host Benson next Friday with a 7:30 p.m. first pitch.

BOX SCORE

BATTING

I. Myhre: 0-3, R, BB; C. Stassen: 1-4, RBI; L. Esping: 2-4, R; B. Larson: 2-3, R, BB; G. Cardinal: 1-3, RBI; K. Christensen: 1-3, RBI.

PITCHING

B. Larson: 4.1 IP, 4 SO, 3H, ER, 6BB; R. Dalager: 4.2 IP, 9 SO, H, 2BB.