A hit here or there, a pitch here or there, and it could have been different.

Wednesday, May 09, 2001

A hit here or there, a pitch here or there, and it could have been different.

That’s why, as Albert Lea coach Joe Sczublewski likes to say, baseball is a game of inches.

Sczublewski’s Tigers were counting them from the wrong end Tuesday after falling 6-2 to Mankato East at Hayek Field.

&uot;It was one of those games where we played well enough to win, but so did East,&uot; said Sczublewski.

The Tigers beat the Cougars – then ranked No. 7 in the state in Class AAA – last week at Mankato.

Most of Tuesday’s scoring came early.

The Cougars took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on a leadoff single, a fielder’s choice and a three-run home run.

The Tigers answered with two in the bottom of the first. David Dahl walked, stole second and scored on a double by Isaac Walton, who scored on an Andy Drenth sacrifice fly.

The Tigers threatened in the sixth, putting two men in scoring position, but Alan Attig was thrown out on an extremely close play at the plate.

Walton pitched six-plus innings and took the loss.

The Tigers, 5-6 overall and 4-6 in the Big Nine, travel to No. 2 rated Rochester Mayo Friday.