Rockets take down Packer baseball team

Published 8:41 pm Monday, May 7, 2018

The Packers were coming off a pair of one-run wins over Northfield on Saturday, but things slipped away from them Monday. 

Rochester John Marshall scored five runs in the top of the fifth to go up 8-4 and added six runs in the sixth to go up 14-6 en route to a 14-7 win over the Packers.

AJ Mueller drives a pitch for the Austin baseball team against Rochester John Marshall in Seltz Field Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

“We haven’t been playing good baseball for a week now and it’s a short season,” Austin head coach Joe Kroc said. “I tried letting the kids know that and if you have one bad week it’s going to turn in to a bad season. Right now we’re not playing our best baseball and we got lucky to get two wins this weekend.”

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The Packers(6-3 overall, 6-3 Big Nine) trailed 2-0 early, but they took a 3-2 lead when Hunter Johnson homered in the second and Josi Bothun and Riley Retterath each knocked in a run in the third.

Austin has a busy week ahead of it. On Tuesday the Packers host Winona, who beat them 3-2 in the season opener, and Austin will host Red Wing in a doubleheader on Saturday. The Section 1AAA tournament is set to begin on May 26, giving the Packers a little over two weeks to get back on track.

“We’re playing undisciplined, we’re playing selfishly and I thought that maybe that was a one game thing,” Kroc said. “Now it’s becoming a trend and we need to turn it around or it’s going to be a long rest of the season. Errors and strikeouts are going to happen, but when you’re getting yourself out before you even step up to the plate, that’s an issue for me.”

Austin’s Josi Bothun pitches against Rochester John Marshall in Seltz Field Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

JM 1 1 0  1 5 6  0  –  14 14  5

Austin 0 1 2  1 2 1  0  –  7  10  3

Austin pitching: Josi Bothun (L) 5 1/3 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 11 R, 8 ER; Nate Murphy, 1/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 K; Pete Conner, 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R

Austin hitting: Riley Wempner, 1-for-4, double, SB, BB; Jack Dankert, 1-for-5, RBI, SB; Phillip Zynda, 1-for-3, BB; AJ Mueller, 2-for-4; Bothun, 1-for-3, RBI, HBP; Conner, 1-for-3, R, BB; Hunter Johnson, 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R, BB; Riley Retterath, 1-for-4, 2 RBIs; Michael O’Connor, 1-for-4, R; Andrew Schumacher, 2 R, SB; Hunter Guyette, 0-for-1; Dawson Mills, 0-for-1