Post 91 dropped in 12th inning of pitchers#039; duel
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 14, 2003
North St. Paul scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to beat the Austin Legion Post 91 baseball team 1-0 in Friday's opening round of the Red Haddox Wood Bat Tournament in Bloomington.
The game was the first for Austin, which had its original season-opener canceled because Albert Lea does not have enough players to field a team. Instead, Post 91 took to the wooden bat tournament in the Twin Cities for its first game -- and it was a good one.
Austin High School graduate Kyle Rizzi threw nine shutout innings but suffered a fate similar to what he experienced all spring while pitching for the Packers. Rizzi and the rest of the Austin offense came up empty on the scoreboard, leaving the ace hurler with a no-decision in a 0-0 ballgame going into extra innings.
Reliever Nels Nelson, a Lyle graduate, walked a pair and allowed the game's only run to score from third on a pitch in the dirt with two outs in the second extra inning.
"The scoring is always low in this tournament," said Austin coach Bob Stratton. "This was an excellent way to start the season. We would have liked to have won, but the next best thing is to play a game like this."
Rizzi surrendered all seven of North St. Paul's hits, striking out one and walking none in nine shutout innings.
Austin did not commit an error but came up with just four hits in the season-opener. Nate Johnson, batting sixth in the order, was 3-for-3 with a walk. Nelson had the only other knock for Austin.
"The hitting wasn't real astute for either team," Stratton said. "I think we'll move some different kids around. We've got so many young guys, we'll just have to see who can get a hot bat."
Johnson, a junior outfielder, was the leadoff hitter for AHS this spring. He may also see some time on the mound this weekend as Post 91 played two games on Saturday and another today. Austin met with Laurel, Mont., and a Bloomington team on Saturday, and Stevens Point, Wisc., was slated to play Austin at 8 a.m. today.
Linescore:
Austin00000000000--040
N.St.Paul00000000001--170
WP--Pluke. LP--Nelson (0-1).