Austin staked Mankato to a 6-0 lead after three innings and could not real them in as the Greyhounds suffered a 9-2 loss in Southern Minny League Class B amateur action Wednesday night at Mankato.

Thursday, June 28, 2001

Austin staked Mankato to a 6-0 lead after three innings and could not real them in as the Greyhounds suffered a 9-2 loss in Southern Minny League Class B amateur action Wednesday night at Mankato.

Nick Dolan, despite surrendering a pair of three-run innings to Mankato early on, went the distance on the hill for Austin in what assistant coach Bryant Olsen said was Dolan’s "longest outing in quite a few years."

Dolan gave up nine hits to Mankato, but settled down after allowing Mankato an early advantage.

"He battled back, and he got stronger as the game went on," Olsen said. "I was quite impressed with the way he battled."

Mankato and Austin, according to head coach Joe Serratore, are "the best of the rest" behind the Rochester Royals in the Southern Minny League. Austin lost to Rochester Sunday night at Mayo Field, but bounced back to beat Plainview 11-5 Tuesday night in Plainview

Austin had just five hits off Mankato starter Joe Kern, a familiar foe according to Coach Olsen.

"It was nothing we hadn’t seen before, we just couldn’t get it done," he said.

Garrett Swank and Mitch Mullenbach each had two hits, and Tim Kaplan had the other. Swank’s single in the seventh inning drove in the second Greyhound run. The first scored ahead of the single on a passed ball.

Austin stranded 15 runners on base, including the bases loaded three times. The Greyhounds next play Apple Valley on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Marcusen Park. The Hayfield Athletics, the Class C amateur team, begin a tournament tonight in Cannon Falls. The tournament resumes Saturday and Sunday.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at sports@austindailyherald.com.