Crestwood boys nipped by Saints; beat Eagles; lose twice to WSR

SAINT ANSGAR - Two rallies by the Crestwood baseball team were not enough as Saint Ansgar tallied one run in the bottom of the seventh to down the Cadets, 14-13, on June 5.

Playing at Clayton Ridge on June 7, the Cadets built an 8-2 lead and held off a late surge during an 8-6 win over the Eagles.

Taking on Waverly-Shell Rock in a road doubleheader on June 8, the Cadets dropped both games, 1-11 (in five innings) and 4-11.

 

S.A. 14, Cadets 13

The Saint Ansgar Saints scored one run in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Cadets, 14-13, on June 5.

The Saints took a 9-1 lead after two innings, but the Cadets scored one run in the third and seven in the fourth to tie the game at nine-all. Saint Ansgar took a brief 11-9 lead in the bottom of the fourth before the Cadets scored two runs each in the fifth and sixth to go ahead, 13-11.

However, the Saints bounced back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. In the bottom of the seventh, Saint Ansgar scored the winning run with two outs.

“This was an exciting game, and it was a lot of fun,” Cadet Coach Gary Steffen said. “After falling behind early, we settled down. In the fourth, our bats erupted. Frank Hrdlicka hit a triple to drive in three runs, and then he scored to tie the game at nine. From that point on, the game was a good back-and-forth battle.

“Both teams made mistakes (on defense), but I was really happy to see that our guys didn’t quit. (Relief pitcher) Matthew Slifka threw the ball well. We still need to clean up our defense, but I was happy with our effort overall,” Steffen said.

Shane Vokaty tallied two hits, two runs, two runs batted in and one stolen base for the Cadets. Jon Henry had two hits, one run, one RBI and one stolen base. Frank Hrdlicka had two hits, including one triple, three runs and three RBI.

Carter Henry had one hit, one run and one RBI. Matthew Slifka had one hit, one run and one stolen base. Gabe Grabau had one hit and one RBI. Justin Kerian tallied one double, one run and two RBI. Kade Munkel scored two runs. Reid Wiley and Landon Simiele each scored one run.

Gabe Grabau was the losing pitcher. He tossed one inning in relief,  allowed one hit, one earned run, one walk and struck out two. Starter Kade Munkel pitched two innings, allowed seven hits, nine earned runs, three walks and struck out two. Matthew Slifka pitched three and two-thirds innings, allowed three hits, four runs (one earned), two walks and struck out five.

Score by innings

CW  0 1 1 7 2 2 0 - 13

SA   4 5 0 2 0 2 1 - 14

 

Cadets 8, C.R. 6

Crestwood scored four runs in the top of the fourth to take an 8-2 lead and held off a late rally by Clayton Ridge to win, 8-6.

The Cadets trailed 1-2 after the first inning before scoring two runs in the second, one in the third and four in the fourth. Clayton Ridge scored two runs each in the fifth and seventh innings.

“Clayton Ridge is a team that is similar to us, and we knew the game would be close,” Steffen said. “Gabe Grabau pitched well, and he’s been our most consistent pitcher. Frank Hrdlicka did a good job of finishing the game to earn the save.

“Even though we had some errors in the first inning, Gabe did a good job of keeping his composure. We also got our offense going early, which was good to see,” Steffen said.

He noted his main goal is to help the players show improvement in every game.

“We’ll continue to work to play cleaner baseball (by cutting down on errors),” Steffen said. “On offense, we don’t look at the batting average. We look at having quality at-bats, which refers to how productive the at-bat was. For example, if the batter advanced the runner, that would be a quality at-bat.”

Jon Henry tallied two hits, including one double, and two RBI. Frank Hrdlicka had two hits. Shane Vokaty had one hit, one run and one RBI. 

Carter Henry had one hit and one run. Colter Bye tallied one hit, one run and two RBI. Justin Kerian posted one hit and one run. Kade Munkel posted one hit, two runs and one RBI. Hunter Bye scored two runs.

Gabe Grabau earned the win. He pitched six and two-thirds innings, allowed four hits, six runs (four earned), two walks and struck out six. Hrdlicka tossed one-third of an inning, allowed two hits, one walk and struck out one to get the save.

Score by innings

CW   1 2 1 4 0 0 0 - 8

CR    2 0 0 0 2 0 2 - 6

 

WSR 11, Cadets 1 (G1)

In game one, Crestwood struggled at the plate and on the mound as Waverly-Shell Rock won easily, 11-1, in five innings.

“We knew going into the games against Waverly that we would need to play perfect baseball to compete against them because they are a strong team,” Steffen said. “Waverly made us throw a lot of pitches because they are very disciplined at the plate.

“After the second game, we talked about the need for our pitchers to throw more strikes. At the plate, we also struggled against good pitching, which Waverly has,” Steffen said.

The Cadets tallied only two hits. Shane Vokaty had one single. Frank Hrdlicka had one triple and one run scored.

Carter Henry was the losing pitcher. He went one and two-thirds innings, allowed six hits, seven earned runs and walked four. Kade Munkel went two and one-thirds innings, allowed five hits, four runs (three earned) and two walks.

Score by innings

CW   0 1 0 0 0 - 1

WSR 1 6 1 0 3 - 11

 

WSR 11, Cadets 4 (G2)

In game two, the Cadets were able to get a few more runs across the plate, but they couldn’t contain Waverly-SR’s hitters as the Go-Hawks won, 11-4.

“Our starting pitcher, Frank Hrdlicka, threw a lot of pitches in three innings, but he did keep us in the game,” Steffen said. “Reid Wiley and Hunter Bye both did a good job in relief.

“At the plate, we did have a little bit of offense by scoring four runs in the fifth, which got us back into the game. Our guys did a good job of battling throughout the game. Overall, we are not going in the wrong direction because our guys are giving their best effort and learning in each game,” Steffen said.

Carter Henry and Frank Hrdlicka each had one hit, one run and one RBI. Shane Vokaty tallied one hit and one run. Matthew Slifka posted one hit and one RBI. Kade Munkel scored one run.

Frank Hrdlicka was the losing pitcher. He tossed three innings, allowed two hits, five runs (two earned), six walks and struck out three. Reid Wiley pitched two innings, allowed five hits, five runs (three earned) and three walks. Hunter Bye went one inning, allowed one hit, one earned run and two walks.

Score by innings

CW   0 0 0 0 4 0 0 - 4

WSR 1 0 4 1 4 1 x - 11