Baseball: Rebels have room to grow
Published 8:59 pm Thursday, April 5, 2012
Southland's Luke Anderson slides into third as Plainiew-Elgin-Millville third baseman Brady Rohman waits for the throw in the first inning Thursday afternoon in Adams. Anderson was tagged out on the play. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
ADAMS — With very few players with varsity experience on their roster, the Rebels baseball team knew they’d be a work in progress this season.
Right now, it seems their hitting is where the most progress must be made.
Southland catcher Luke Anderson tags out Plainview-Elgin-Millville's James Burke during the first inning as Burke was trying to score from first Thursday in Adams. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Southland mustered just two hits in an 8-1 loss to Plainview-Elgin-Millville (2-0 overall, 2-0 Three Rivers) in Adams Thursday.
“I think the game’s a little fast for them yet. It’s going to be a rather long learning experience I’m afraid,” Southland head coach Scott Retterath said.
Southland (0-2 overall, 0-2 Three Rivers) has just three players who had seen varsity pitching on a consistent basis before this season and it will most likely take awhile for them to get used to it.
PEM pitcher Cory Speer struck out 11 and five of those strikeouts came with the hitter looking.
“The only way to get better is to keep doing it,” Retterath said. “You can take as much batting practice as you want, but we’ve got to see live pitching.”
Taylor Schwartz, who was one of three sophomores in Southland’s lineup Thursday, said he thinks the team was better at the plate than they were in Tuesday’s 6-0 loss to Rushford-Peterson, when they had three hits.
“It’s starting to work. We had a few more guys on today than we did on Tuesday,” Schwartz said. “(Varsity pitching) is not as bad as I thought it would be. I thought it would be a lot faster, but it is still a work in progress for us.”
Southland pitcher Decker Bendtsen delivers in the first inning against Plainview-Elgin-Mille Thursday in Adams. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Southland’s only offense came in the first inning when Tyler Kressin walked, stole second and scored on a single by Lukas Anderson. Southland’s other hit came when Dylan Heimer drove a single with two outs in the seventh inning.
PEM broke open a 3-1 game in the top of the fifth when Jack Ihrke blasted a two-out, two-run homer over the left field fence.
While Southland has struggled on offense, it’s defense was solid on Thursday. The Rebels committed just one error and left fielder Nick Schmitz threw out PEM’s James Burke at the plate to end the top of the first inning.
“Defensively we won’t be too bad and that’ll come along a lot faster than our hitting,” Retterath said.
Southland's Tyler Kressin moves up to third on the way to scoring during the first inning against Plainview-Elgin-Millville Thursday in Adams. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
PEM 1 0 1 1 2 0 2 — 8 5 1
Southland 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 2 1
Southland pitching: Decker Bendtsen (L), 6 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 4 K, 1 HBP; Sam Klaehn, 1 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 1 ER, 1 K
Southland hitting: Tyler Kressin, 0-for-2, R, SB, BB; Lukas Anderson, 1-for-2, RBI, BB; Taylor Schwartz, 0-for-2; Nick Schmitz, 0-for-3; Mike Goergen, 0-for-2; Bendtsen, 0-for-2; Klaehn, 0-for-3; Chris Beert, 0-for-2; Trent Reinartz, 0-for-1, BB; Travis Bruggeman, 0-for-1; Alex Pitzen, BB; Dylan Heimer, 1-for-1
PEM pitching: Cory Speer (W), 7 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 1 ER, 11 K
PEM hitting: Aaron Grobe, 1-for-3, double, SB, BB; Brady Rohman, 1-for-3, RBI, BB; Garret Wolf, 0-for-3, HBP; James Burke, 2 BBs, 2 HBP; Jack Ihrke, 1-for-3, HR, 3 RBIs, BB; Speer, 1-for-3, BB; Justin Kiehn, 1-for-4, RBI, SB; Sam Ruth, 0-for-3; Joe Kiehn, 0-for-3
