Faribault Snaps Losing Streak in Win Over St. Benedict

The Faribault Lakers pulled into a tie for the #5 spot in the standings of the DRS League with a 8-3 win over St. Benedict Monday night.

The Game was played at Bonin Field in St. Patrick because the Saints don't have lights.  The game was supposed to be played Saturday but was rained out.

The Lakers scored in the first inning.  Blake Langerud hit a 1-2 count pitch to third base resulting in a error.  Danny Pierce hit a grounder to short resulting in Langerud being thrown out at second but Pierce beat the relay.

Joe Grote then smacked a 0-2 count pitch for a double placing runners at second and third base for Nate Rost.  Rost hit a 2-2 count pitch for a single scoring two runs before a fly out and ground out ended the Lakers half of the inning.

Grote went the distance on the hill for Faribault.

St. Benedict immediately answered the Lakers with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning.  Jeremy Heitkamp opened the inning with a 2-1 count single to left field.

Heitkamp gained second base on a wild pitch and scored on a 1-1 count doubler off the patch of Mitchell Martin.  Two outs were then recorded.

Matt Morenson then cracked a 2-2 count pitch for a RBI single to tie the game.

The Saints went ahead in the second inning.  Joe Pesta walked to open the inning.  Following a pop out and strikeout Heitkamp collected his second single advancing Pesta to third base.

Pesta then scored on a wild pitch.  St. Benedict led 3-2.

The Saints had a golden opportunity to break the game open with bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the 5th inning.

Thanks to a 1-2-3 double play and a fly out no runs scored.  It seemed to give the Lakers new energy.

Gote opened the sixth inning with a triple on a 2-2 count connection.  Nate Rost was hit by a pitch.  Following a strikeout Ryan Archambault singled on a 1-1 count pitch to score Grote.

Hunter Nelson took a 0-1 count pitch the other way to score Rost who had stolen his second base of the game.

The Lakers added two more runs in the 7th inning when Langerud opened the inning with a full count infield single.  Pierce executed a outstanding bunt and gained first base.

Grote bunted advancing the runners but he was retired.  The Saints gave Rost an intentional pass to load the bases with one out.

Jack Jandro  hit a fly ball to left field on a 2-2 count scoring Langerud on the sacrifice fly.

Archambault was hit by a pitch loading the bases again and Pierce scored on a wild pitch to make the score 6-3.

Dylan Valentyn led the 8th inning off with a 2-2 count double.  Following a ground out where he did advance to third base Langerud hit a 3-1 count pitch for a run scoring single to right field.

The Lakers added their final run in the 9th inning.  Nate Rost walked to open the inning.  Jandro singled, Archambault singled to load the bases.  Nelson grounded out but Rost scored on the play.

After the bases loaded with nobody out situation Grote allowed just one more hit the rest of the game.  A two out single in the 6th inning.  There were just two more runners on the bases for St. Benedict the rest of the game as the Lakers veteran retired the last 7 batters he faced.

Grote threw 128 pitches, 90 for strikes with an impressive 33 of 39 first pitch strikes.  He struck out 6, walked 3, allowed 9 hits.

Cole Minnick started the game pitching for the Saints and went the first six innings.  He allowed 4 runs, all earned, 6 hits, struck out 2, walked 0, hit 2 batters while throwing 79 pitches, 56 strikes.  He threw 20 of 27 first pitch strikes.

Lefty Matthias Duevel went the next 1 1/3 innings facing 8 batters with 4 hits allowed, 3 runs scored, a walk and a hit batter.  He threw 36 pitches, 21 strikes.

Alex Donkers finished the game for the Saints going the final 1 2/3 innings with 8 batters faced, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 strikeout, 2 walks with 34 pitches thrown, 18 strikes.

The Lakers are 13-15 overall.

With the victory Faribault pulled into a tie for 5th place in the standings with the top five teams automatically going to Region 3C and receiving byes from the League playoffs.  According to the DRS League both teams are 11-10 in league play with one game to go.

St. Benedict goes to Shakopee Wednesday while Faribault heads to New Prague.  The Lakers could be the #4 seed with a win over New Prague because they would pull into a tie if the standings are accurate.

The first tie-breaker is head to head with the Lakers splitting with St. Benedict and New Prague.  The next tie-breaker is total runs scored between the teams tied in head to head competition.  Faribault outscored St. Benedict.

St. Patrick ran away with the regular season title.  Montgomery finished second, Union Hill clinched a #3 seed with a 7-5 win over Lonsdale Monday.

The League playoffs have teams engage in a best of 3 series before going to the 8-team MODIFIED double elimination Region Tournament.

Four teams from Region 3C qualify for the State Tournament to be held in Faribault, Dundas and Miesville the final two weekends of August ending with title games in Class C and B on Labor Day.

Here is the DRS League Playoffs and Region 3C Tournament Bracket.

I don't know why Jerry Groskreutz is not listed here.