RIVER FALLS, Wis. — In a game that featured just seven hits combined, it was Woodbury that strung two together in the fifth inning to provide the difference in a 1-0 Suburban East Conference baseball victory over Stillwater on Wednesday, April 17 at First National Bank of River Falls Field.
The teams entered the game as the only remaining teams without an SEC loss and the Royals (4-0 SEC, 4-1) will remain atop the standings in what should be a wild chase for the title with five SEC teams among the top eight in the Class AAAA preseason state coaches poll.
Second-ranked Stillwater (3-1, 3-1) dropped into a tie for second with fifth-ranked Mounds View (3-1, 4-1), but remains ahead of fourth-ranked Cretin-Derham Hall (2-1, 2-1) and reigning state champion East Ridge (2-2, 3-2).
Joe Fredkove finished with two of Stillwater’s three hits while creating few chances against Jack Gessner, who allowed one walk and struck out nine in six innings. George Bjellos allowed one hit but completed the shutout with a scoreless seventh for the Royals.
Woodbury’s pitching was even more impressive when you consider Stillwater averaged more than nine runs in their first three games of the season.
Alex Boston was also strong on the mound for the Ponies, allowing just three hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Woodbury finally broke through with the game’s only run with two outs in the top of the fifth.
Lucas McNellis drove a one-out double to right field and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice before scoring on a base hit to center by Tommy Kroohn.
Fredkove’s seventh-inning single with two outs was the only base runner for the Ponies in the last three innings as Woodbury closed the door.
Karson Foster avoided further trouble on the mound after replacing Boston in the fifth, allowing just one hit and striking out two in 2 1/3 innings. Twenty-one of Foster’s 29 pitches were strikes.
Woodbury 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 4 0
Stillwater 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 1
WP: Jack Gessner 6-ip, 2-h, 0-r, 0-er, 1-bb, 9-so
LP: Alex Boston 4 2/3-ip, 3-h, 1-r, 1-er, 3-bb, 6-so
Leading hitters: Wo, Will Haugen 1x3, Tommy Kroohn 1x1 (RBI), Bill Giliuson 1x2 and Lucas McNellis 1x4 (2B); St, Owen Maslowski 1x3 and Joe Fredkove 2x3.
Stillwater 11, Roseville 1
At Roseville, nine different players accounted for Stillwater’s 11 hits as part of a balanced effort at the plate in an 11-1 victory over Roseville in five innings on Monday, April 15 at Roseville Area High School.
The Raiders (1-3 SEC, 1-3) hung around until Stillwater exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth to pull away.
Owen Maslowski and Joe Fredkove each finished with two hits for the Ponies, who also limited Roseville to just five hits.
Dylan Bloom pitched well in his second start for the Ponies, allowing just four hits and one walk with five strikeouts in four innings. He did give up an unearned run in the first. Fredkove finished the game with one scoreless inning for the Ponies.
Alex Boston, Charley Rowan and Luke Adams each doubled for the Ponies.
Stillwater 2 1 1 0 7 — 11 11 2
Roseville 1 0 0 0 0 — 1 5 4
WP: Dylan Bloom 4-ip, 4-h, 1-r, 0-er, 1-bb, 5-so
LP: Dylan Keeley 3-ip, 5-h, 4-r, 2-er, 1-bb, 2-so
Leading hitters: St, AJ Levy 1x4 (RBI), Luke Adams 1x3 (2B), Charley Rowan 1x4 (2B, RBI), Owen Maslowski 2x4 (RBI), Joe Fredkove 2x3 (2 RBI), Pat Lungren 1x3 (RBI), Alex Boston 1x2 (2B, 3 RBI), Gus Swenson 1x2 and Henry Mested 1x1; Ros, Spencer Barta 1x3, Jack Amundson 1x3, Jonathan Snavely 1x2 (2B, RBI), Vincent Campbell 1x2 and Willi Engholm 1x2 (2B).
Stillwater 8, East Ridge 6
At Oak Park Heights, in a match-up of the top two teams in the preseason state rankings, the Ponies broke a 3-all tie with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull away for an 8-6 conference triumph over East Ridge on Friday, April 12 at SAHS.
Alex Boston drew a walk and Pat Lundgren drove a one-out triple to push the first run across in the decisive sixth inning for the Ponies. Henry Mested followed with a base hit to score Lundgren and AJ Levy added another single. Then with two outs, Charley Rowan unloaded a two-run double and Owen Maslowski followed with a double to score Rowan to push the lead to 8-3.
East Ridge closed the gap slightly with a three-run homer from Luke Skinner with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Alex Oehlke recorded the final to cap three solid innings against a strong lineup.
Boston started for the Ponies and struck out four while allowing four hits in four innings of work.
Stillwater scored three runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings against starter and University of Mississippi recruit Jake Reigert.
East Ridge 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 — 6 8 0
Stillwater 0 0 2 0 1 5 x — 8 12 0
WP: Alex Boston 4-ip, 4-h, 3-r, 3-er, 0-bb, 4-so
LP: Jake Reigert 4 2/3-ip, 7-h, 3-r, 3-er, 2-bb, 2-so
Leading hitters: ER, Luke Skinner 2x4 (HR, 3 RBI), Jack Blink 1x3, Jake Reigert 1x3 (3B), Will Preimesberger 2x3 (2B, RBI), Benjamin Rudser 1x3 (RBI) and Antonio Jimenez 1x3; St, AJ Levy 2x2, Luke Adams 1x3, Charley Rowan 3x4 (2B, 4 RBI), Owen Maslowski 3x4 (2B, 2 RBI), Pat Lundgren 2x2 (3B, RBI) and Henry Mested 1x1 (RBI).
Contact Stuart Groskreutz at stuart.groskreutz@apgecm.com
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