In his pitching debut for the Albert Lea Colonels, recent high school graduate Isaac Walton walked the first batter he faced.

He quickly recovered.

Walton struck out the next three batters &045; two of them looking &045; and pitched eight solid innings for the win as the Colonels beat the Austin Greyhounds 6-3 in their Southern Minny League opener at Hayek Field Thursday night.

&uot;The guys played a good game tonight,&uot; said manager Bill Trygstad. &uot;Austin didn’t have everyone there because they have a big tournament this weekend, but they’re still a pretty decent team.&uot;

And a seasoned one. The Greyhounds, according to Trygstad, had about 12 games under their belt and had reportedly defeated state power Rochester. It was the Colonels’ first win in three games this year.

Walton, a four-year starter for the Albert Lea High School team, gave up three earned runs on eight hits, with six walks and nine strikeouts.

&uot;He pitched pretty well for his first time out at this level,&uot; said Trygstad.

Craig Smith earned a save, entering with two on in the ninth and striking out the No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters.

The Colonels struck early, putting four runs on the board in the top of the first.

Brad Carlson was safe on a leadoff error and, after Matt Trygstad reached on a bad-hop single to short, Ryan Wangen knocked in Carlson with a single. Jeff Schulz walked to load the bases. David Dahl drove in a run with a single, Justin Kohn hit a run-scoring sacrifice fly and Brandon Tukua singled to reload the bases. A single by Phil Wacholz scored the fourth run. A double play ended the inning.

The Colonels got two big insurance runs in the eighth, when Dahl singled, Kohn doubled him home and Aric Attig hit a run-scoring single.

Tukua was 2-for-3, Dahl 2-for-4. Kohn had a double and two RBIs. Attig, Matt Trygstad, Wangen, Wacholz and Zac Oquist had one hit apiece.

The Colonels travel to Faribault Saturday.

Colonels 6, Greyhounds 3

Austin

000

003

000 &045; 3

8

1

Albert Lea

400

000

02x &045; 6 10

1

WP – Isaac Walton