ROCHESTER &045; To put the win-loss record of the Albert Lea Colonels into perspective, you need to look at the schedule.

The Colonels, 0-5 in the Southern Minny League and 1-5 overall, have twice faced Rochester, which finished third in the Class B state tournament last year. They’ve also met defending state champion Austin, state qualifier Waseca and Faribault, which handed Waseca its lone loss this year.

&uot;We’ve had a pretty tough stretch here,&uot; said manager Bill Trygstad.

But they’ve apparently gotten tougher in the process.

The Colonels, 10-runned by Rochester in an earlier meeting, kept it close at Mayo Field Sunday night while falling 5-3.

&uot;We had our chances,&uot; said Trygstad.

The Colonels came out strong, scoring all three of their runs in the top of the first inning.

Matt Trygstad started it with a one-out single. James Gonzalez walked, and both advanced on a passed ball. One out later, Aric Attig hit a run-scoring single and, after taking second on the throw home, Attig scored on a single to right center by Ryan Wangen.

Rochester scored an unearned run in the third, and it remained 3-1 until the home team put three runs on the board in the fifth, adding one in the eighth.

The Colonels managed only two hits off a Rochester reliever who’s headed for Boston College on a baseball scholarship, a fifth-inning single by Gonzalez and an eighth-inning base hit by Matt Trygstad.

Adam Berge, a third-year Colonel from Northwood, pitched the first five innings in his first outing of the year. He allowed only one hit through four innings but took the loss, giving up four runs on five hits, with five walks and five strikeouts. Jay Link had another strong relief showing, allowing two hits in three innings.

Matt Trygstad was 2-for-4 for the game. The only other Albert Lea hits were by Gonzalez, Attig and Wangen.

Turning in strong defensive plays were Tim Davis in left field, Zac Oquist in right field and Justin Kohn in center field.

&uot;Overall, our pitching was fine,&uot; said Bill Trygstad. &uot;Defensively, we made some nice plays. We’re starting to hit the ball better, but we still had too many strikeouts.&uot;

The Colonels have a break before resuming Southern Minny League play Saturday with a 7 p.m. game at Owatonna.

Rochester 5, Colonels 3

AL

300

000

000 &045; 3

5

4

R

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030

01x &045; 5

7

3

LP &045; Adam Berge