Athletics upset Vikings in Section 1A West baseball quarterfinals
Published 9:04 pm Thursday, May 22, 2014
Austin’s Daniel Bollingberg dives back into first on a pick-off attempt in the first inning of LP’s Section 1A West Division playoff game against Hayfield Thursday night. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
HAYFIELD — Lyle-Pacelli seventh grader Corey Retterath wasn’t even in the Athletics starting lineup a few weeks ago, but he was one of the many players to step up for the LP baseball team as it won its biggest contest in at least six years in Hayfield Thursday.
Lyle-Pacelli catcher Lee Bauer is upended by Hayfield’s John Stackhouse in the first inning of their Section 1A West Division playoff game in Hayfield Thursday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The No. 6 seeded Athletics ended No. 3 seeded Hayfield’s season with a 10-6 win.
Retterath led of the fourth inning with LP trailing 5-3 when he drew a lead-off walk and in his next at-bat he was singling in a run in the middle of a seven-run inning that saw LP send 13 hitters to the plate. Jordan Hart singled in a run in the frame, Matt Kasel had a two-run single, Lee Bauer knocked in a run and Daniel Bollingberg drew a bases loaded walk to score a run and make it 10-5 LP.
“Everybody was getting hits left and right. It was great,” Hart said. “Hayfield’s a good team and we hadn’t beat them in awhile. This is a big confidence booster going into the next game.”
LP (14-5 overall) will play in the Section 1A semifinals against No. 2 seeded Randolph (11-2 overall) in Riverland Saturday at 10 a.m. It’s a game the Athletics have been looking to get in ever since Hart and Bollingberg started playing varsity baseball four years ago.
“We’ve been playoff winless for a long time and we’ve always felt like we’ve had a team good enough to win,” Bollingberg said. “We just haven’t really believed, but this year we really felt we had a chance. We just had to have our heads in it.”
Hayfield’s Cam Rutledge relays the throw after getting the force out on Lyle-Pacelli’s Braden Kocer in their Section 1A West Division playoff game Thursday in Hayfield. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Bollingberg struggled early on, but he finished strong as he held the Vikings (11-7 overall) scoreless over the last three innings. He only allowed one single in the last last three frames.
“They were hitting Daniel hard, but he beared down and got us through it,” LP head coach Brock Meyer said. “I think he was going on pure adrenaline in the last three innings.”
Things fell apart for the Vikings in the fourth as they went through three pitchers in the frame. The game started off on a bad note for them early on as they committed two errors in the first inning and another error in the second.
“We were mentally not ready. I don’t know what happened in that first inning, but we set a bad tone with those errors and we gave them energy,” Hayfield head coach Kasey Krekling said. “It’s obviously not what we expected this year. We had a pretty good year and this is not the way we expected to go out. Unfortunately that’s the game of baseball and when you have single elimination anything can happen.”
Hayfield senior pitcher Drew Streightiff had shutout the Athletics back on April 25, but it was a different story this time around. Streightiff allowed five hits and four walks before being taken out in the fourth.
Hayfield catcher Connor Nelson lifts and RBI double in the first inning against Lyle-Pacelli Thursday during Section 1A West Division playoff action in Hayfield. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“I told them to be patient and make him work. Streightiff dominated us the first time, but we worked on that a little bit and it showed today,” LP head coach Brock Meyer said. “We did a great job of getting on base and getting some big hits. They made some mistakes and we took advantage. The difference between our wins in losses is we’ve made plays like they did today, but we didn’t do that today.”
Bollingberg said the loss to Streightiff and Southland’s Lukas Anderson in April was a key moment for LP. After those games the squad went to practice with the pitching machine cranked up to 90 miles per hour and it helped them out on Thursday.
“That really helped us and it really showed today. It was a big difference maker,” Bollingberg said. “We’re really excited [to play Saturday]. It’s in our hometown and it’s the first time we’ve been there in awhile.”
LP 1 2 0 7 0 0 0 — 10 8 0
Hayfield 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 — 6 11 5
LP pitching: Daniel Bollingberg (W) 7 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 4 HBP, 6 K
LP hitting: Bollingberg, 1-for-2, RBI, 2 R, 3 BBs; Jordan Cotter, 2-for-5, double, 2 RBIs, R; Jordan Hart, 1-for-3, RBI, SB, HBP; Matt Kasel, 2 RBIs, R; Lee Bauer, 1-for-3, RBI, R, BB; Kevin Juenger, 0-for-3; Braden Kocer, 1-for-3, R, HBP; Shayan Qureshi, 0-fro-3, R; Corey Retterath, 1-for-3, RBI, R, BB
Hayfield pitching: Drew Streightiff (L) 3 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 9 R, 4 K; Carter Pesch, 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R; Cam Rutledge, 3 2/3 IP, 0 R, 7 K
Hayfield hitting: Cole Kruger, 2-for-3, double, RBI, R, SB; Rutledge, 1-for-3, double, R; JB Stackhouse, 0-for-2, 2 HBP, R; Streightiff, 2-for-4, RBI, R; Connor Nelson, 2-for-4, double, RBI, R; Pesch, 1-for-3, triple, R, HBP; Ben Czaplewski, 3-for-3, 3 RBIs, R, HBP; Mat Walter, 0-for-3; Jacob Steiner, 0-for-3
