AUSTIN DAILY HERALD

The Austin Greyhounds are back in it.
Just when it looked like they may be headed for the bottom seed in Section 2B, the Hounds bounced back by sweeping a doubleheader at Rochester by scores of 4-3 and 6-4 over the Royals Saturday.
Now a win over the Blue Sox on Wednesday will give the Hounds a No. 2 seed in the Section 2B tournament which starts Sunday.
The Blue Sox have locked up the top-seed and will have home-field advantage throughout the section tournament.
The Hounds (12-12 overall, 2-3 Section 2 B) lost to the Blue Sox 6-1 Friday, but didn’t show much rust against the Royals.
“We would’ve liked to beat that team, but usually we bounce back after a bad game,” Hounds manager John Frein said. “Now (after sweeping the Royals) we’ve got to beat those guys on Wednesday.”
The first game was a makeup from a rain-out earlier this season and Austin started out down 1-0 but it answered right away in the second inning when Nick Bowe hit a two-run double and Nick Rohne knocked in a run with a single to make it 3-1 Hounds.
“We could’ve really blown it open in that inning, but it was nice to get three runs right away,” Frein said.
The Royals tied it up at three in the top of the third, and the only other scoring on the day was a solo home run by Matt Raso in the eighth to set up Austin’s win.
Bryan Toov allowed two runners to reach base in the ninth, but he pitched out of it — much like he did the rest of the game.
“Toov got out of jams a couple of times,” Frein said. “He’s always been good in tough situations.”The Hounds got a huge boost from one of their seldom used veterans in the second game when Joe Ciola knocked in two runs with a double over the right fielder’s head with two outs in the top of the 10th to set up the win.
Ciola, who has played in just a handful of games this season, finished with three hits and three RBIs in the 6-4 win.
“Joe’s always been a good hitter, he’s scrappy,” Frein said. “It was exciting to watch the old veteran come through in the clutch and he was the player of the game.”
The Hounds forced extra innings by scoring twice in the top of the ninth when Frein and Rohne hit back-to-back sacrifice flies.

If the Hounds should lose to the Blue Sox on Wednesday, there would be a coin toss to decide the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the Section 2B tournament since Austin would be tied with Waseca and Rochester.

When the Hounds play the Blue Sox Wednesday, they are sponsoring Special Olympics Night at Marcusen Park on. Gate admittance will be donated to Special Olympics Mower County.
Royals 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 12 0
Hounds 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 X — 4 11 1
Hounds pitching: Bryan Toov (W), 9 IP, 12 H, 1 BB, 3 ER, 3 K, 1 HBP
Hounds hitting: Nick Rohne, 2-for-4, RBI; Mitch Mullenbach, 1-for-3, SB; Matt Cano, 2-for-3, double, BB; Craig Braaten, 0-for-4; Matt Raso, 2-for-4, HR, double, RBI, R; John Kirby, 2-for-3, R, BB; Quinn Yocom, 1-for-2, R, BB; Nick Bowe, 1-for-4, double, 2 RBIs; John Frein, 0-for-3; Dave Meyer, 0-for-1
Hounds 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 — 6 11 0
Royals 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 — 4 9 1
Hounds pitching: John Kirby, 7 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 ER; John Halverson (W), 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 R; Raso (S), 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Hounds hitting: Meyer, 0-for-1; Rohne, 0-for-2, RBI, R, BB; Mullenbach, 2-for-4, BB; Cano, 0-for-3, RBI, BB; Adam Hemann, R; Braaten, 1-for-2, R; Mike Tindal, 0-for-2; Yocom, 0-for-1; Raso, 3-for-5, double; Toov, 1-for-4, 2 R, BB; Joe Ciola, 3-for-4, 3 RBIs, double, R, BB; Bowe, 0-for-3, 2 BBs; Frein, 1-for-2, RBI