Baseball: Athletics close out regular season with win over Hayfield
Published 9:09 pm Friday, May 20, 2016
Lyle-Pacelli’s Jed Nelson races past Hayfield’s Adam Fjerstad, left, and first baseman Brady Dahl on a bunt Friday in Hayfield. Eric Johnson/photodesk@dailyherald.com
HAYFIELD — The final week of the regular season was like a roller coaster ride for the Lyle-Pacelli baseball team and the Athletics closed things out with a thrill in Hayfield Friday.
Hayfield’s Adam Fjerstad fires home against Lyle-Pacelli Friday in Hayfield. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Athletics jumped out to an early lead and they went on to beat the Vikings 12-1 in six innings.
LP (15-3 overall) started the week out with a win over top ranked Randolph, where it won a share of the SEC title, it let a lead slip away in a loss to Blooming Prairie on Wednesday, and it re-captured Monday’s momentum in Friday’s win.
“We had a positive energy against Randolph and today,” LP head coach Brock Meyer said. “Now we have a taste of how we need to play come playoff time.”
LP sophomore Taylor Arett pitched six innings to get the win as he allowed just four hits and two walks, while striking out five. Arett said he was able to get some pitching advice from LP ace Daniel Bollingberg before the game.
“Daniel got my confidence up and he told me I needed to start changing it up and throwing some offspeed pitches. I mainly just needed to start hitting knees and throwing strikes,” Arett said. “It feels great to play a good team and pitch really good. I just feel really great right now.”
Lyle-Pacelli throws to first after getting the force out on Hayfield’s Dominic Dublin Friday in Hayfield. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Bollingberg knocked in a run and it added five more runs in the fourth when Lee Bauer singled in a pair of runs.
“As soon as we got off to that fast start we could tell the momentum was with us and we just kept putting it on,” Bollingberg said. “We really never gave them a chance to come back.”
The Vikings (11-9 overall) committed seven errors in the loss and they allowed a total of nine unearned runs.
“We couldn’t stop it,” Hayfield head coach Kasey Krekling said. “Give LP credit, they put a lot of balls in play and we sure could not field the ball.”
LP will open the Section 1A West tournament 5 p.m. Thursday and Bollingberg is hoping the squad has figured out how to play with proper focus.
“Randolph was a huge game and we were super high with a lot of energy in that one,” Bollingberg said. “We just really weren’t prepared for Blooming on Wednesday and we had a letdown. Today we didn’t get to high or too low and that’s a big thing headed into the playoffs.”
LP 0 2 0 5 3 2 — 12 10 0
Hayfield 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 4 7
LP pitching: Taylor Arett (W) 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 5 K, 1 HBP
LP hitting: Daniel Bollingberg, 3-for-5, triple, 4 RBIs, 3 R; Bryce Strouf, 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BBs; Lee Bauer, 1-for-5, 3 RBIs, R; Jordan Cotter, 1-for-4, RBI; Braden Kocer, 1-for-4, RBI; Brady Lester, 0-for-4; Arett, 1-for-3, R, BB; Cory Webber, 0-for-2, 3 R, 2 BBs; Jed Nelson, 1-for-4, RBI; Jake Muhlbauer, 3 R
Hayfield’s Aaron Younge holds up the ball after tagging Lyle-Pacelli’s Jed Nelson at third base Friday in Hayfield. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield pitching: Adam Fjerstad (L) 3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 7 R, 1 ER; Aaron Younge, 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 K
Hayfield hitting: Adam Younge, 0-for-2; Jake Olive, 1-for-3; Fjerstad, 0-for-3; Dublin, 1-for-3, R; Brady Dahl, 1-for-2; Kolby Tapp, 0-for-2, BB; Aaron Younge, 1-for-1, HBP; Karl Stasko, 0-for-2; Owen Novotne, 0-for-1, RBI, BB; Zach Nelson, 0-for-1
