ALBERT LEA — Austin Post 91 drew a lot of early walks and made Albert Lea pay in a 17-5 win at Hayek Field in Albert Lea Friday.

Post 56 pitchers walked 10 batters and eight came around to score to give Post 91 the win in five innings.

“We played hard and played good defensive ball,” Albert Lea coach Boyd Eisenbraun said. “Those walks got us.”

Austin (8-7 overall, 6-4 District 1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two of its first four hitters drew walks and later came around to score.

In the second inning two more Austin batters who drew walks came around to score as starter AL Jordan Hanson struggled with his control. Post 91 added five runs in that frame to hold a 8-0 lead.

The Albert Lea bats showed some life in the bottom of the second inning when Casey Woodside and Logan Kortan hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Jared Gavle hit an RBI single and Josh Eisenbraun followed with an RBI groundout to cut the deficit to 8-2. That was as close as Post 56 would get as Austin added another four runs in the third, sending 11 hitters to the plate, three reached on a walk and later scored.

Post 91 starter Mark Harber was effective, scattering nine hits and allowing five runs in five innings. Albert Lea had its chances, but Harber was able to successfully work out of jams in the second, third and fifth innings relatively unscathed.

While the bottom third of the lineup struggled for Post 56, Austin’s bottom third was busy scoring. Brady Klingfus had two hits, drew two walks and scored four times on the night. Dylan Monson also added two runs.

But the biggest night belonged to leadoff hitter Andrew Orcutt who went 2-for-3 with two walks and scored four times while also driving in a run.

Duell Higbe also had a powerful night as he drove in six runs on five hits. He also scored twice.

Austin 17, Albert Lea 3

Austin pitching: Mark Harber (W) 5 IP, 9 H, 0 BB, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 K

Austin hitting: Andrew Orcutt 2-of-3, 4 R; Mark Harber 1-of-4, 2 R; Duell Higbe 5-of-5, 2 R, 4 RBI; John Kirby 1-of-4, R, RBI; Jake Winters 0-of-3, R; Steven Rizzi, 2-of-3, RBI; Jordan Hall, 1-of-4, R; Brady Klingfus, 2-of-2, 4 R; Dylan Monson, 2-of-3, 2 R, 2 RBI

Albert Lea pitching: Jordan Hanson (L) 2 1/3 IP, 7 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 8 BB, 1 K; Matt Jensen 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

Albert Lea hitting: Anthony Tippett, 2-of-3, 2 R; Jared Matson, 1-of-3, R, SB; Matt Jensen, 1-of-3; Casey Woodside, 1-of-3, R, RBI; Logan Kortan, 3-of-3, R; Jordan Hanson, 0-of-3; Jared Gavle, 1-of-2, RBI; Josh Eisenbraun, 0-1, RBI; Connor Kortan, 0-of-1, Cory Hansen, 0-of-1, Carter Kortan, 0-of-1