Owatonna junior Abe Havelka threw nearly five innings of relief and drove in three runs in the Huskies' 6-5 win over Mankato West at Fuller Field at Dartts Park.

The Scarlets had scored two runs in each of the first two innings and opened the third with a single. In came Havelka, who retired 11 in a row and 13 of the first 14 he faced. West scored a run and had the tying run on base when OHS coach Tate Cummins called Kodey Kiel to close the door. Kiel struck out the one man he faced to get the save.

In addition to the pitching victory, Havelka drove in three runs. He hit a two-run single in the first inning and had a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the fourth. Ben Staska and Nolan Malo also had RBIs for the Huskies (3-2). The Big Nine website indicates Tuesday's game was a nonconference meeting.

West led 2-0 and 4-3 but Owatonna rallied each time for the 6-5 victory. Kiel had two hits, reached base three times and scored twice. Junior Brady Schuster made several fantastic plays at third base. In the fourth inning he timed his leap to snare a sharp line drive. He made a couple of great throws later in the game and scored a run.

Owatonna hosts Faribault on Thursday at 5PM on KDHL AM 920. The game is a cancer fundraising event to support OHS grad Matt Ratzloff, who is battling leukemia.

In other Owatonna sports Tuesday, the softball team lost to defending state champion Mankato West 18-0. OHS girls lacrosse fell to defending section champ Lakeville South 17-3. Owatonna boys and girls track teams won their home meet.

Blooming Prairie boys golf was second in a Gopher Conference meet at Oak View Golf Course in Freeborn. United South Central shot 179. Blooming Prairie came in with 184. BP's Tommy Braaten was the meet medalist with 40. His teammate Lucas Noble shot 45. NRHEG finished fifth. Oakley Baker led the Panthers with 48.

Scoreboard for Tuesday, April 18
Baseball
Owatonna 6, Mankato West 5
Le Sueur-Henderson 3, Medford 1
Goodhue 5, Triton 1
Albert Lea 10, Northfield 9
Cannon Falls 8, Kenyon-Wanamingo 3
Jordan 8, Waseca 2
Kasson-Mantorville 7, Rochester Lourdes 5
Mankato East 10, Faribault 0
New Prague 10, Holy Family 1
Red Wing 7, Austin 0
Rochester Century 13, Rochester JM 7

Softball
Mankato West 18, Owatonna 0
Austin 18, Red Wing 9
Faribault 9, Mankato East 1
Rochester Century 8, Rochester JM 7

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