The Austin Post 1216 VFW baseball team suffered its first District loss of the season, but it rebounded to win the nightcap in Marcusen Park Monday.

Austin lost 4-0 in the opener against Cannon Falls and it took the second game 9-2.

Austin (8-6 overall, 4-1 District) left the bases loaded in the second and fifth innings in the loss and Cannon Falls was able to go up 4-0 in the top of the fifth when it scored three runs in that frame.

“They’re an awful young group and I’m anxious for them to get in those situations where you’ve got runners in scoring position and you need someone to come up with a base hit or put the ball in play and make the other team play defense,” Austin head coach Mark Conner said. “We had a few too many strikeouts in that first game that killed some momentum for us.”

Austin trailed 2-0 after two innings in the second game, but it finally got its bats going when it scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 5-2. Josiah Bothun knocked in two runs with a two-out single to put Austin up by three runs.

“The unfortunate thing is it seems like we’re late to get started,” Conner said. “We need to figure out how to get started earlier. When someone gets a hit, it seems to be contagious but the problem is we need to get things rolling earlier in the game.”

Post 1216 scored a couple of runs off of double steals on Monday. Double steals have proven to be an effective weapon for Post 1216 early on this season.

“It’s been something that we’ve been doing. We’ve probably done it a half a dozen times this year and it’s one of those things that has been working for us,” Conner said. “Sometimes it’s about taking advantage of the pitcher and the middle infield.”

CF 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 — 4 5 2

Austin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 4 2

Austin pitching: Josiah Bothun (L) 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 K, 1 HBP; Evan Horstmann, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K

Austin hitting: Evan McAlister, 0-for-2, 2 HBP; Phillip Zynda, 0-for-4; Riley Retterath, 1-for-3; Jack Dankert, 1-for-4; Pete Conner, 0-for-4; Tyler Robertson, 1-for-2, 2 BBs; Hunter Johnson, 0-for-2, HBP; Bothun, 1-for-2, BB; Forrest Lewis, 0-for-2

CF 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 6 1

Austin 0 0 1 0 4 4 X — 9 7 2

Austin pitching: Garett Ruroden, 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K; Lewis (W) 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 K, 1 HBP; Jakob Crouch, 1 IP, 2 BB, 0 R, 2 K

Austin hitting: Lewis, 0-for-3, RBI, R, HBP; Bothun, 0-for-3, RBI, BB; Robertson, 1-for-3, 3 RBIs, BB; Johnson, 1-for-3, triple; Horstmann, 1-for-2, double, R; Jake Lunt, 1-for-3, R, SB; Matt Nelson, 2-for-2, 2 SB, 2 R, BB; Crouch, 0-for-2, 2 R, SB, BB; Ruroden, 1-for-1, 2 R, 2 SB, HBP, BB