Jason’s Blog: OHS baseball

Posted By: Jason Iacovino

Now that the weather is finally cooperating, Owatonna's baseball team can resume its winning season after a 10-day detour.  With that, the 7-1 Huskies will have 6 key conference games in the next four days, including at rival Faribault on Wednesday, which I will broadcast live on Kat Kountry 104.9 FM at 5:00 p.m.

First Owatonna will host a doubleheader against Rochester Century at Fuller Field on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 4:00 p.m.  Coach Tate Cummins' squad has had some good battles with the Panthers through the years and Centruy is in the middle of the Big 9 at 4-3 so far.

Then it's off to Bell Field to face Faribault, who ended up being the top seed in Section 1AAA a year ago, although Rochester Mayo ended up going to State.  The Falcons have compiled a 3-2 conference record so far this year and are led by senior pitcher Nate Emge.  Owatonna will close out the week with a game at Mankato East on Thursday and a doubleheader at Rochester John Marshall on Friday.

It's a key week for coach Cummins' squad in that all of these teams except for East are in Owatonna's section.  Mayo would figure to be the top contender along with Owatonna in the 12-team Section in 2014, but there are always surprises in the tournament and the Falcons and Rockets would figure to be in the mix, along with Northfield.

In just 8 games, Owatonna has already been sparked by a tremendous offense, led by Riley Thompson, who is hitting .586 with 17 extra base hits in just 29 at-bats.  Carter McCauley (.346), Owen Carlson (.375), Luke Wanuous (.500), and Dexter Leer (.414) have also been stinging the ball for OHS.

On the pitching side, the Huskies are lead by Ian Langeberg and Thompson, who each have thrown over 15 innings and have ERAs of 2.02 and 1.37, respectively.  The Huskies have a very impressive 1.96 ERA as a team.

Of course you never know what's going to happen after a long layoff and a string of 6 games in 4 days, so Owatonna's depth will be tested this week.  The weather looks like it should cooperate, so I would recommend folks head out to beautiful Fuller Field on Tuesday to see the team in action.

Jason Iacovino can be heard Tuesdays and Fridays on KRFO-AM 1390 at 3:50 p.m. Email him at jjiacovino@stthomas.edu.  Follow him on Twitter @JasonIacovino.