Cobras down Viking baseball team

Published 8:33 pm Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Hayfield's Cam Rutledge tags Triton's Leyenrique Ortiz as he tried to steal second in the first inning Tuesday afternoon in Hayfield. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

HAYFIELD — Just four days after the Hayfield baseball team almost knocked off Kenyon-Wanamingo, the Vikings showed their youth in a 10-1 loss to Triton (10-10 overall) in Hayfield Tuesday.

Hayfield's Will Waggoner steals second base as Triton's Alex Head goes up for the high throw during the first inning Tuesday in Hayfield.

The Vikings (4-15 overall) committed five errors and the Cobras pulled away in the fourth inning with five hits that led to six runs in that frame.

Hayfield has lost seven straight and the subsection tournament is just a week away.

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“If we play like we did today, we would lose to anybody in the section,” Hayfield head coach Kasey Krekling said. “But when we play like we have, like when we played Kenyon-Wanamingo, we can beat anybody. That’s the kind of team we have.”

Hayfield has just two upperclassmen on its roster and Krekling said his players need to learn to regroup and play damage control when other teams rally against them. The Vikings committed two errors in Triton’s big six-run fourth inning.

“We haven’t figured out how to get out of an inning before it becomes a big inning. They feel that when the other team scores, they think that the game is already lost,” Krekling said. “They don’t know how to get out of it and that’s something they need to learn how to do. I hope they learn it fast.”

Hayfield's Jason Born delivers in the first inning Tuesday against Triton in Hayfield.

The Vikings played the game without one of their top hitters in sophomore JB Stackhouse.

“Our lineup is very young and some of our guys just don’t have very good swings yet,” Krekling said. “We were missing our cleanup hitter and we rely on him.”

Triton 0 0 1 6 0 0 3 — 10 10 0

Hayfield 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 1 5 5

Hayfield pitching: Jason Born (L), 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 5 BB, 7 R, 5 ER, 5 K; Will Waggoner, 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 ER, 1 K

Hayfield hitting: Cole Kruger, 0-for-3; Waggoner, 1-for-3, SB; Drew Streightiff, 0-for-3; Born, 1-for-3, double, R; Connor Nelson, 1-for-3; Jacob Steiner, 2-for-3, RBI; Mat Walters, 0-for-3; Carter Pesch, 0-for-2, SB, BB; Cam Rutledge, 0-for-3