AUSTIN – The Albert Lea American Legion baseball team was due for a win against Austin.

Wednesday, August 01, 2001

AUSTIN – The Albert Lea American Legion baseball team was due for a win against Austin.

Now, it’s overdue.

The locals lost to their arch rivals for the third time this summer, falling 2-1 Tuesday night in the opening round of the district tournament.

&uot;We should have had it,&uot; said Albert Lea coach Dell Dooley.

Isaac Walton had Austin in control, pitching a three-hitter while striking out seven and not allowing a walk. Neither run off him was earned.

&uot;Isaac pitched a whale of a ballgame,&uot; said Dooley. &uot;It’s just too bad. We made a lot of mistakes behind him and it cost us the game.&uot;

The mistakes included five fielding errors and, according to Dooley, a couple mental mistakes that don’t show up in the score book.

&uot;That was the difference,&uot; said Dooley.

The lone run for Post 56 came in the sixth inning, when Phil Wacholz doubled and scored on a single by Adam Hamberg.

For the night, Wacholz was 2-for-3 with two doubles. Hamberg, Adam Highum and Isaiah Parry each contributed one hit.

Post 56, 9-16, resumes the double-elimination tournament Thursday with a 4:30 game at Winona.

Said Dooley, &uot;If we’re going to go very far in this tournament, we have to get the errors down.&uot;

Austin 2, Albert Lea 1

Albert Lea&160;

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&160;Austin

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LP – Isaac Walton