Raso homers as Hounds top Hayfield Heat
Published 10:32 pm Wednesday, July 24, 2013
The Hayfield Heat’s Tyler Krekling slides safely past the tag of the Austin Greyhounds’ Joe Kroc on a stolen base attempt Wednesday night at Marcusen Park. — Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Matt Raso of the Austin Greyhounds had a rare start at third base and he couldn’t have been much happier as the Hounds rolled past the Hayfield Heat 11-5 in Marcusen Park Wednesday night.
Raso, who catches almost every game for the Hounds (14-7 overall), hit his first homer of the summer in the seventh inning to make it 9-3 and he also scored three runs and went 3-for-5.
Austin Greyhounds shortstop throws to first after making the play in the gap against the Hayfield Heat Wednesday night at Marcusen Park.
“I caught about thirty innings over the weekend, so I cherish these games (when I don’t have to catch,” Raso said. “It makes a difference in my hitting when I don’t catch. I have a little more left in the legs.”
The Heat (16-8 overall) got on the board in the top of the first when Kyle Van Wettering singled in a run, but the Hounds took over the game in the fourth and fifth innings.
Austin scored three in the fourth as Pete Conway grounded in a run and Alex Ciola singled in a run and Austin tacked on five more runs in the fifth as Zach Schara singled in a run and Tyler Leopold doubled in two more runs.
The Heat, who didn’t have their entire team present, were using the contest as a warm-up for when they begin the Region 5C Tournament as a No. 3 seed next Wednesday in Riverland Community College at 7:30 p.m.
“We wanted to get a game in so we wouldn’t have a week and a half between our last regular season game and our first playoff game,” Hayfield manager Kasey Krekling said. “We were able to get our guys some at-bats against a good ‘B’ team.”
Heat 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 — 5 11 2
Hounds 0 0 0 3 5 0 1 2 0 — 11 12 1
Hounds pitching: Aaron Klatt, 3 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 5 K; Weston Hansen (W), 3 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 ER, 5 K, 1 HBP; Zach Schara, 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 7 K
Hounds hitting: Andy Swank, 2-for-5, 2 doubles, R; Joe Kroc, 1-for-5, RBI, R; John Frein, 1-for-2, R, SB, 2 BBs; Matt Raso, 3-for-5, HR, RBI, 3 R; Zach Schara, 2-for-4, RBI, 2 R, BB; Tyler Leopold, 1-for-2, double, 2 RBIs, R, BB; Pete Conway, 0-for-4, RBI; Alex Ciola, 1-for-4, RBI; Zach Huntley, 0-for-3, R, BB; Joe Ciola, 1-for-1
Heat pitching: Nick Thompson (L), 4 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 8 R, 7 ER; Kasey Krekling, 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 K; Mark Evjen, 1 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 1 K
Heat hitting: Tyler Krekling, 1-for-2, RBI, R, 2 SB, 3 BBs; Shane Barry, 1-for-5, double, R; Kyle VanWettering, 2-for-5, RBI, SB, R; Travis Kaufmann, 1-for-3, double, R, HBP, 2 BBs; Drew Streightiff, 0-for-5; Evjen, 2-for-5; Jake Krier, 2-for-3, triple, 2 RBIs, R, 2 BBs; Thompson, 0-for-2; Cam Rutledge, 1-for-3, BB; Kasey Krekling, 1-for-3, double, RBI
