Baseball: Athletics advance to Section 1A West title game
Published 8:14 pm Monday, May 30, 2016
Daniel Bollingberg celebrates Lyle-Pacelli’s win over Faribault Bethlehem Academy in the Section 1A West tournament in Riverland Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
The No. 3 Lyle-Pacelli baseball team used another strong pitching performance from its senior ace to get by No. 2 Faribault Bethlehem Academy 3-2 in a Section 1A West semifinal in Riverland Monday.
Brady Lester makes a catch in center field for Lyle-Pacelli in the Section 1A West tournament in Riverland Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
LP senior Daniel Bollingberg, who scattered nine hits and struck out seven, was able to pitch his way out a couple of jams as he led the Athletics (17-3 overall) with seven strong innings for the second straight game.
FBA (11-11 overall) had the bases loaded with two outs in the third when Bollingberg struck out their lead-off hitter Alex Dunn and they had runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth, when he forced two straight fly-outs.
LP was supposed to play on Saturday, but it was delayed to Monday due to weather and that gave Bollingberg some time to get ready.
“I was planning on pitching Monday anyway and to have that rest to be able to pitch today was real nice,” he said. “The more you win without a loss, the less pitching you have to use. It’s nice to keep winning.”
LP did all of its offensive damage in the third when it scored on an error and Jordan Cotter singled in a pair of runs to make it a 3-0 game. Cotter knew he was in a big spot against FBA’s and he knew he had to come through.
“You’ve got to try not to be nervous and you have to do what you’ve been doing all year,” he said. “I just kind of took it.”
The Athletics will look to clinch a trip to the Section 1A tournament when they play No. 1 United South Central in Riverland 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Lyle-Pacelli’s Lee Bauer makes contact on a pitch against Faribault B.A. in the Section 1A West tournament in Riverland Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“The seniors are kind of leading this team. Every game a senior comes up with a big hit and I think they’re the ones who just don’t want the season to end,” LP head coach Brock Meyer said. “We just take it day by day. It’s a good win, but we try to stay even keel throughout the year.”
LP 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 — 3 4 0
FBA 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 2 9 3
LP pitching: Daniel Bollingberg (W) 7 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 7 K, HBP
LP hitting: Bollingberg, 0-for-3, R, BB, SB; Bryce Strouf, 0-for-3, R, BB; Lee Bauer, 1-for-4; Jordan Cotter, 1-for-3, 2 RBIs, BB; Braden Kocer, 0-for-4; Taylor Arett, 0-for-3; Corey Webber, 2-for-3; Brady Lester, 0-for-3; Jed Nelson, 0-for-2, BB; Jake Muhlbauer, R, SB
