Veseli Warriors surge to top of DRS

Riding a wave of four wins in its last five games, one of the smallest teams in the Dakota-Rice-Scott League is atop the standings heading into the holiday weekend.

Class C Veseli sits atop the DRS at 9-5 with 27½. The Warriors are the beneficiaries of wins over bigger teams, wins garnering greater points than a win over another Class C. The Warriors have two wins over Class B Shakopee and a win over Faribault, a Class A team under the Minnesota Baseball Association’s class system.

The Warriors will face New Prague, a Class B team, Sunday, July 6, 4 p.m., in the friendly confines of Memorial Park in New Prague. Friday, July 11, 8 p.m., Veseli will head south to Montgomery to face the Mallards.

Webster 5, Union Hill 2 The Sox fought their way out of a 2-1 hole with four runs in the eighth inning of the June 29 clash at Webster.

Webster took a 1-0 lead early when Kutter Herzig singled and later scored when Peter Tveite smacked a hit.

After UH took a 2-1 lead when Nathan Lee scored in the second inning and Will Busch crossed the plate in the sixth, Webster rallied in the eighth inning.

Kutter Herzig’s base hit and a walk to Peter Grassl and a base hit, followed by a double from Will Wareham, had the Sox in the lead. Peter Tveite and Jake Belille both walked to load the bases. A walk to Will Arendt drove in Webster’s fourth run of the inning.

Webster outhit Union Hill, 7-4. Webster pitchers recorded 10 strikeouts in the win.

St. Patrick 9, Hastings 4 St. Patrick starting pitcher Ryan Friedges went seven innings, scattering nine hits and struck out six to win Sunday, June 29.

The Irish were led by Tate Marland on offense. He had three hits and scored a run. Mikey Gottschalk had two hits, including a three-run home run. Ryan Friedges had a two-run homer and scored twice. Kal Brohmer pitched two innings in relief.

Elko 12, Prior Lake 2 The Express used a big inning to thump the Mudcats in the June 29 tilt at Memorial Field.

Elko built a 6-0 lead with a run in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth frame before the Mudcats dented the deficit with a pair of runs in the home half of the sixth inning. Elko scored four times in the eighth inning and twice more in the ninth for the 10-run win.

The Express outhit the Mudcats, 11-9.

Montgomery 6, Shakopee 1 Sunday, June 29, at the Mallard Fan Appreciation game, the ducks gave fans a reminder to always arrive to the game on time, jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and then not crossing the plate again cruising to a 6-1 win over the Shakopee Coyotes.

A Matt Smith double scored Pat Lloyd for the first Mallard run, followed by hits from Ben Anderson, Max Krautkremer, Chris Johnson and a Nolan Readmond ground-out did the early damage and from there the Mallard pitchers took over.

Ted Christian pitched the first 4 1/3 innings allowing no hits and striking out six Coyotes. Max Krautkremer took the mound next, going 1 2/3 innings retiring five straight hitters, two by strikeout. Johnny Krocak pitched seventh and eighth frames, allowing only a double and the lone Coyotes’ run on a ground-out. Matt Smith pitched the ninth, striking out two.

Krautkremer and Johnson each had two hits for the Mallards with Smith, Lloyd and Dawson Pint collecting doubles.

Veseli 4, Lonsdale 2 In a rematch of a July 27 tilt, Veseli defeated Lonsdale 4-2. Nate Picka pitched seven innings of shutout ball, allowing three hits, walking zero and striking out six Aces.

Teegan Mellgren suffered the loss despite holding the Warriors hitless through five innings.

Scoring began the seventh frame when Stephen Nezerka singled and Matt Friedges doubled. Nate Friedges then doubled to drive-in the pair giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead.

In the eighth, with two out and bases empty, Sam Friedges singled. Two extra base hits from Nezerka and Matt Friedges gave Veseli a 4-0 lead.

Max Fierst entered the game in the eighth and was met with a pair of hits that put Lonsdale on the board. Spencer Mellgren scored after brother, Teegan, doubled. With two out Jack Skluzacek doubled to make the score 4-2.

Veseli loaded the bases in the ninth when a single and a pair of bunts which were handled errantly gave the Warriors a chance to extend the lead. Relief pitcher Joe Sabal struck out a batter and get an out and a fly out to thwart the rally. However, the Aces went down quietly in the ninth securing the 4-2 win for Veseli.

Of Lonsdale’s five hits, Jack Skluzacek had two, including an RBI double.

For Veseli, Matt Friedges, Nate Friedges and Nezerka all had two hits and at least one double.

St. Patrick 9, Elko 2 Zak Endres got the start for the Irish and went seven strong innings, giving up only two hits and no runs in the July 27 clash, as the Irish won, 9-2. St. Patrick was led offensively by Spencer Wright, who had two hits and scored twice. Jack Friedges had two hits and two stolen bases. Ryan Friedges had a two-RBI double. Fritz Meyer threw two innings of relief for the Irish.

Veseli 10, Lonsdale 3 Trailing 2-0 to the Aces after a series of hit batters and fielding faux pas along with Brady Flicek’s run-scoring hit in the June 27 game, the Warriors stormed back with a vengeance in the bottom of the frame.

Kyle Carlberg singled, advanced on a passed ball then a wild pitch. Riley Schaeffer walked, and both men advanced on yet another passed ball. Nick Geis walked and Sam Friedges singled to tie the score at 2-aside. Nate Picka hit a fly ball to deep center to drive in Nick Geis. Sam Friedges advanced on another wild pitch then another passed ball and would score on a fielding error.

Stephen Nezerka hit a blast to left field to make the score 6-2. Nezerka would have himself a big night. In the fifth inning, Matt Friedges singled and Nezerka hit a fly ball to deep right centerfield which again cleared the fence making the score 8-2.

In the sixth inning after a walk and a single, a passed ball would score the run from third which was unfortunate for the Warriors because the next pitch was a strikeout which ended the inning.

In the eighth inning, after a walk a single and a batter hit by a pitch, Nezerka continued his big night with a single plating two more Warriors. Nezerka finished 3-for-5, a pair of home runs, six RBIs and two runs scored. Sam Friedges finished his evening with three hits, an RBI and two runs scored.

Pitcher Tupy earned the ‘W’ for Veseli. He pitched six innings, striking out 10 with two walks while allowing 2 hits. Of the three runs he surrendered, none of them were earned. Matt Perkinson picked up a rare three-inning save in relief. He struck out four and allowed a single hit. Flicek had a pair of hits for the Aces in the evening. Ethan Slifko suffered the loss on the mound. The teams rematch on Sunday at Lonsdale.

Union Hill 5, Veseli 1 The Bulldogs rallied from an early deficit and finally overcame St. Benedict’s righthander Alex Mizsak.

After Will Busch walked and Tomas Lee singled in the fourth inning, Nathan Berg’s double and Jack Kreutzian’s base hit put the Bulldogs in the lead. Berg later belted one out of the park and Jonny Connelly doubled and later scored on an error to give UH a four-run cushion.

Union Hill hurler Charlie Otteson went the distance, surrendering hits to St. Benedict’s Nolan Eischens and Mitchell Martin. Otteson struck out four and walked four in the win.

Nathan Berg paced UH with three hits and two RBIs. Eric Berg and Kreutzian also drove in runs for Union Hill. Joe Becker had two hits for the Bulldogs.

St. Patrick 9, Elko 2 The Irish hammered Elko July 27 at Fredrickson Field, building a 3-0 lead after five innings and a 7-0 advantage after seven. The Irish added two more runs in the eighth before Elko plated its only two runs of the game.

The Express committed five field errors and had four hits in the setback.

Faribault 3, New Prague 0 Timely hitting, or the lack thereof, doomed New Prague in the June 29 loss to the Lakers. The Orioles outhit the Lakers, 11-6, but could not come up with any timely hits with men on base.

Egan Bonde went a complete game for the Lakers, striking out five NP sluggers and allowing no walks.

In the first inning, Faribault had three hits, including an RBI single from Austin Rendler that drove in Aidan Tobin who had also singled. Two innings later, Tobin scored on an error for Faribault’s second run. The Lakers wrapped up their scoring in the sixth frame when Tucker Alstead reached base on a walk and then later scored on a passed ball. That would be enough for the Lakers as the Orioles couldn't capitalize with men on base.

NP’s Ben Schmitz had a pair of hits including a double. James Fuerniss, Gavin Bergman and Eric Wagner also hit doubles. Jackson Sirek started for the Orioles and went three innings giving up an earned run. In relief, Cam Prochaska, Austin Wilson and Kole Wagner all pitched shutout innings.