Austin Post 91 made a solid comeback, but in the end its defense let it down in a 15-11 loss in a legion baseball game to Waseca in Marcusen Park Thursday.

Austin (4-9 overall) trailed 8-0 after two innings but it battled back to 8-7 after Preston Higbe tripled in a run in the fifth inning. Higbe was caught in a run down for the first out of the fifth and Austin stranded runners on first and second to end that frame.

Waseca put up six runs with the help of two key errors by Austin to back up 14-7 in the top of the sixth. Matt Saemrow blasted a two-run homer to cap the Waseca rally.

“We can’t have two innings where they score five or more runs and five errors is bad,” Austin shortstop Joey Swatfagger said. “It was a sloppy game.”

Higbe doubled in two more runs in the fifth and Swatfagger had a fly ball misplayed by Waseca to make it a 14-11 game after five, but Waseca’s defense put an end to Post 91’s threat in the sixth.

Nate Paris walked to lead off the sixth and Mike Tindal, who was three-for-four with two RBIs, blasted a line drive that Waseca shortstop Kevin Flynn dove to catch cleanly. Flynn fired to first for a double play and Austin put just one runner on base the rest of the way.

Austin’s comeback in the second inning was ignited by a solo home run by Joey Swatfagger, who lined a shot over the left field fence for his first career homer.

“I don’t even know what pitch it was, it was a blur,” Swatfagger said. “I think it was right down the middle and I thought it was just a line drive at first.”

Higbe and Adam McMasters came up with back-to-back two-out run scoring singles to make it 8-5 before Swatfagger lined out to end the inning.

“You can’t dig yourself in a hole like we did but we were resilient and this is a good group of kids,” Post 91 manager Bob Stratton said.

Waseca 3 5 0 0 6 0 1 — 15 16 3

Austin 0 5 1 1 4 0 0 — 11 10 5

Post 91 pitching: Luke Mallory (L), 1 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 ER, HBP; Adam McMasters, 3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 R, 4 ER, 5 K; Quinn Yocom, 2 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 4 K, HBP

Post 91 hitting: Yocom, 0-for-3, 2 R, 2 BBs; Preston Higbe, 3-for-5, double, triple, 4 RBIs, R; Adam McMasters, 1-for-5, RBI; Joey Swatfagger, 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBIs, R; Brady Klingfus, 0-for-2, R, 2 BBs; Nate Paris, 0-for-2, 2 R, SB, 2 BBs; Mike Tindal, 3-for-4, 2 RBIs, 2 R, SB; Robert Wahlert, 0-for-4, R; Caleb Wahlen, 0-for-2, RBI; Jay Ettinger, 1-for-1, RBI, R, BB

Waseca pitching: Nathan Draheim (W), 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 R, 4 ER

Waseca hitting: Kevin Glynn, 3-for-5; Clint Larson, 1-for-3, RBI; Eric Simmons, 3-for-4, double, RBI; Kyle Waugh, 3-for-5, double, 2 RBIs; Corey Reger, 1-for-5, RBI; Jordan Steffens, 1-for-5, double, RBI; Matt Saemrow, 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Christian Hall, 2-for-4, RBI; Shane Malecha, 0-for-1, 2 BBs