The Waseca Braves are always tough.

Joe Kern and some of his Minnesota State-Mankato teammates made them tougher.

Kern, who hooked up with Waseca when Mankato’s amateur baseball team folded for the summer, allowed only one hit through eight innings as the visiting Braves defeated the Albert Lea Colonels 6-1 in a Southern Minny League game at Hayek Field Wednesday night.

&uot;Waseca’s very solid this year,&uot; said Colonels manager Bill Trygstad. &uot;They have a strong, veteran team. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it to state again.&uot;

The Colonels, meanwhile, continued to struggle at the plate, managing only one hit for the second game in a row while falling to 1-3 in the league and 1-4 overall.

&uot;The guys are still showing up and giving a good effort,&uot; said Trygstad. &uot;We’re just not having much success right now. We’re pitching well enough. We’re playing good enough defense. We just need the hitting to come around.&uot;

Aric Attig had the Colonels’ lone hit. He also had the only hit in last weekend’s loss to Faribault.

Albert Lea’s run came in the sixth, when David Dahl was hit by a pitch and, two outs later, Justin Kohn hit a grounder that was thrown away at first by the shortstop. Dahl kept running on the play, and scored when Colonels first base coach Tim Davis was hit in the head by the relay from the first baseman.

&uot;It was kind of a tough way to score,&uot; said Trygstad. &uot;I think Tim’s OK, but it was a little scary.&uot; Kern struck out nine and walked three in eight innings on the mound.

&uot;He’s tough,&uot; said Trygstad. &uot;He throws pretty good and hits his corners real good.&uot;

The Colonels’ Isaac Walton matched him for four innings before Waseca scored twice in the fifth on a one-out bloop single, an infield single and back-to-back run-scoring hits.

Walton went the distance, allowing 12 hits and two walks, with five strikeouts.

&uot;Isaac pitched well,&uot; said Trygstad. &uot;He was throwing as hard at the end of the game as he was at the beginning. It was a close game. We’ve just got to hit with them, and we didn’t do it tonight.&uot;

Waseca, whose only loss is a 1-0 setback to Faribault, improved to 7-1.

The Colonels face another strong opponent Sunday, when they travel to Rochester for a 6 p.m. Southern Minny League game.

Braves 6, Colonels 1

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AL

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WP – Joe Kern

LP – Isaac Walton