Berhow’s bomb sparks Tigers
Published 12:00 am Friday, May 5, 2006
Coming off a disappointing doubleheader loss to Owatonna where Albert Lea managed just three hits in two games the Tigers came with a new focus to the ballpark Thursday.
That focus &045; and Ben Berhow’s big bat &045;&160;helped key a 9-2 victory over Mankato West.
The Tigers were scoreless over the first two innings, but the momentum began to shift in the third. With two outs and the bases empty Albert Lea strung together three consecutive hits to load the bases for Berhow. He responded with a rocket shot that cleared the center field fence for a grand slam giving the Tigers all the offense they would need.
&8220;Getting our offense going with two outs and then that grand slam really took the air out of them,&8221; said Albert Lea head coach Joe Sczublewski. &8220;We worked on our hitting a lot in practice and the kids really were more focused about their hitting.&8221;
The Tigers would strike for four more runs in the fourth inning getting a two RBI double from Arik Matson and another two bagger from Levi Langseth to plate a run.
Albert Lea would finish the game with 12 hits total led by Langseth’s 3-for-4 performance while Berhow had two hits and drove in five. Nick Bunz added two hits including a double as did Matson who also scored twice.
Josh Jordahl was the beneficiary of all of the offense and the senior responded with what Sczublewski called &8220;his best performance of the season.&8221;
Jordahl allowed just six hits, walked one and struck out four in seven innings.
&8220;He got ahead of hitters and was in command all night long,&8221; said Sczublewski.
Albert Lea continued to play well defensively with Matt Schumann making a key running catch in the outfield in the first inning, while David Hird anchored the infield with several big plays.
The Tigers, who improved to 6-5 overall and 4-5 in the Big Nine, play five games in four days next week.