Bulldogs drop Eagles

Published 9:24 am Friday, June 20, 2008

Lake Mills baseball coach Jason Blaser handed down a set of challenges to his team before playing West Hancock Wednesday and it responded.

With the conference crown out of the question the Bulldogs (13-9 overall, 5-4 NIC) adjusted their goals for the rest of the season and set out accomplishing them right away with a 10-3 and a 9-5 win over the Eagles in a doubleheader at home.

“We sat down before the game and knew that the conference championship was no longer a realistic goal,” Blaser said. “So we readjusted our team goals and one of those is to win six out of our last eight home games. We told them tonight would be a big step.”

Email newsletter signup

They took that step in the first game with a six-run second inning that gave them a 6-0 lead. West Hancock battled back to draw the game to 6-2 after the top of the fourth, but then everything started to go right for Lake Mills.

In the fifth inning the Bulldogs turned a triple play when third baseman Chris Throne snagged a liner, stepped on third and fired to first to complete the triple play.

“I was real pleased with the way we came out and got the victory,” Blaser said. “The first game we capitalized and scored six runs in the second inning and that started off with two errors in a row for them.”

In the bottom half of the fifth Jordan Krull hit his first career home run with a three-run shot to put Lake Mills up 10-3.

“We readjusted his batting his batting stance three games ago and he’s really making solid contact right now, really driving the ball to the gap,” Blaser said.

Nolan Zobel started on the mound for the Bulldogs and went seven strong innings, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out five.

In the second game Lake Mills continued to take advantage of mistakes made by the Eagles. The Bulldogs drew seven walks in the game and three of those crossed the plate as they cruised to a 9-5 win.

Lake Mills scored eight runs in the third inning and Tyler Olson capped off the inning with a two-run single. The Bulldogs sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning and met another goal Blaser had set for his team.

“West Hancock beat us 10-3 at their place earlier in the year and that was their only conference win of the year,” Blaser said. “I really challenged the guys to not let them have two conference wins against the same team.”

The two wins gave Lake Mills some growing momentum which it hopes to continue the rest of the season before the playoffs begin July 5.

“We talked about before the game how the last 14 games our goal is to go 11-3, but more importantly to get ready for that game against Central Springs,” Blaser said.

After coming out of Wednesday’s game glowing, the Bulldogs took a step backward with a 10-5 extra inning loss to Clear Lake.

Lake Mills took a 4-0 lead in the second inning with a pair of homers. Royce Byrnes sent a laser over the fence to put the Bulldogs up 2-0. Then, Scott Abbey connected on his third home run of the year, another two-run shot that had Lake Mills feeling good.

That feeling didn’t last for long as the Lions answered with a pair of runs in the third and the fifth to tie the game at four.

Clear Lake took the lead in the top of the seventh and the Bulldogs scrambled in the bottom half to tie the game. They did find a run to tie the game again when Steve Hengesteg blasted a solo shot, his first of the year, out of the park and sent it to extra innings.

There in the eighth three, errors in the outfield cost Lake Mills as the Lions pushed five runs across the plate in the frame for the 10-5 win. All five of the runs were unearned.

“We hit the ball well tonight,” Bulldogs head coach Jason Blaser said. “We let them hang around and unfortunately they came through.”

Lake Mills had chances to put the game away early but stranded 10 runners on the evening as they couldn’t pick up a pivotal hit.

Clear Lake 10, Lake Mills 5, 8 innings

Clear Lake – 002 020 15 – 10 7 1

Lake Mills – 040 000 10 -5 9 4

LP – Chris throne 3 2/3 IP 3 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 3 BB

Game 1

Lake Mills 10, West Hancock 3

West Hancock – 000 111 0 – 3

Lake Mills – 060 130 x – 10

WP – Nolan Zobel 7 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 5 K

Game 2

Lake Mills 9, West Hancock 5

West Hancock – 000 14 – 5 9 1

Lake Mills – 108 0x – 9 5 2

WP – Brad Midlang 5 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K