Hits come in bunches in Rebels win
Published 5:45 pm Friday, May 23, 2008
By Mike Simmons, staff writer
WELLS &8212; United South Central head baseball coach Pat Frank has a one liner for almost any situation that could comfort his 11-8 Rebels. His favorite and one he repeats before every game is &8220;10 and you win.&8221; Meaning if USC can knock out 10 hits they can beat anyone.
The Rebels took that to heart Thursday afternoon in the opening round game in the Class 2AA, Section 2, East Subsection in Wells with a dominating 17-6 five inning win over the Redbirds of Montgomery-Lonsdale.
&8220;They are a good team, we knew they were good, I just didn&8217;t know how our bats would respond today,&8221; Frank said. &8220;That&8217;s the thing that has brought us through a lot of games this year, and it&8217;s what got us through this one.&8221;
After a scoreless first inning the Redbirds came out in
the top of the second and drew two walks with one out. That&8217;s when their No. 9 hitter, Tyler Bednar cranked a fastball off the top of the right field fence and out of the park for an early 3-0 M-L advantage.
All that seemed to do was make the Rebels mad as they exploded for seven runs on five hits to take a 7-3 lead. USC sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning with Andrew Penning, Chris Schultz, Darin Stenzel, Jake Bonsack, and Ned Kalis collecting the five Rebel hits.
In the bottom of the third the Rebels continued to pour it on with a four-run inning on three hits by Penning, Schultz and Stenzel. It was the second inning in a row that USC&8217;s No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 hitters reached base. For the game, the three had seven of the 12 Rebel hits along with seven runs.
The Redbirds made a game of it, if only momentarily, in the fourth with three runs that drew them to within five at 11-6 but that was as close as it would get.
In the bottom of the fifth the Rebels pushed across two runs and led 13-6 before A.J. Dreyer stroked a two-run triple to left-center field that left them one run shy of ending it early.
Then with Dreyer on third and just one out Kalis blasted a towering home run to right field that sent the Redbirds home early and the Rebels deeper into the section playoffs.
&8220;I&8217;m just so proud of our kids,&8221; Frank said. &8220;We were able to hit all through our lineup and that&8217;s what we have to do if we are going to continue to win.&8221;
Schultz led USC&8217;s offensive attack with three hits in three at bats while Bonsack went 2-for-3. Kalis went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs, and Penning went 2-for-3 with two runs. Schultz went 3-for-3 with three runs, and Stenzel went 2-for-3 with two runs.
The third seeded Rebels will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to Waseca to take on No. 1 seed Waseca at 5 p.m. USC has beaten the Bluejays three of the last four times they have met, including a 6-5 win just 12 days ago.
United South Central 17, Montgomery Lonsdale 6
ML – 030 30x x – 6
6
8
3
USC – 074 06x x – 17
12
3
WP – Andrew Penning 3 IP, 6 runs, 7 hits, K, BB
LP – Mike Flicek 2 IP, 7 runs, 7 hits, 3 K, 2 BB