Late rally lifts A.L. past Mayo
Published 8:31 am Monday, April 20, 2009
Patience and determination paid off for the Albert Lea baseball team Saturday against Mayo at Hayek Field in a dramatic 7-4 win.
The Tigers (5-2, 4-2) rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat the No. 6-ranked Spartans in a big conference victory.
Albert Lea struggled against Mayo starter Rannon Arch through the first five innings, but the third time through against him the Tigers were able to bunch together hits to take their first lead of the game in the sixth inning.
Albert Lea started the sixth with three base hits, beginning with Jordan Mondeel’s lead-off single. Luke Grossman followed with a single and Logan Kortan came through with an RBI single to score Mondeel. Jordan Cooper drew a walk to load the bases for Colby Strilaeff.
Mayo pulled starter Arch and Tigers’ head coach Joe Sczublewki put Strilaeff in to face right-hander Ben O’Reilly.
Strilaeff stepped into the box for his first at-bat of the game and delivered a two-run single to put the Tigers up 4-3.
Albert Lea wasn’t done though. The very next batter, Aaron Klatt delivered his first home run of the season, a three-run shot to right center field to make the game 7-3.
Strilaeff also delivered on the mound for the Tigers.
“Colby was very tenacious on the mound,” Sczublewski said. “He was really tough with people in scoring position.”
Strilaeff pitched seven innings and allowed four runs on 10 hits and struck out five.
The Spartans had 20 base runners in the game but Strilaeff was able to get the big outs when he needed.
“They had us on the ropes several times, but it was one of those games where we battled a little bit harder than they did,” Sczublewski said.
Strilaeff worked out jams throughout most of the game. Mayo loaded the bases in the second inning, but Strilaeff got a ground ball out to end the inning. In the fourth the Spartans had the bases loaded with no outs, but Kortan was able to make a throw from center field to cut down a runner trying to score to keep the game 2-0 and Strilaeff eventually ended the threat.
Strilaeff did give up two home runs, one in the sixth and one in the seventh, but both were solo shots.
“Coming in I knew they were a really good team and I needed to keep the ball low and hit my spots,” Strilaeff said. “A couple of times I didn’t and it resulted in them hitting it over the fence. One through nine they’re a solid team.”
The Tigers were faced with the prospect of losing their third game of the week and it was something Strilaeff and the team didn’t want.
“I think we were all bummed we lost two games this week and we didn’t want to lose three,” Strileaff said. “So we came in today looking for the win and we played our hearts out.”
The win was undoubtedly big for a team coming off a three-win season and keeps Albert Lea among the top teams in the Big Nine.
“When a lot of people see the score, they’re going to shake their heads, ‘This is not the same Albert Lea team from last year. They just knocked off one of the top teams in the conference,’” Strilaeff said. “It’s given us great confidence. We feel like we can beat anybody. Everybody talks about Mayo and we went out there and beat them.”
Albert Lea 7, Mayo 3
Mayo 200 001 1 — 4 10 1
Albert Lea 000 106 x — 7 7 4
WP — Colby Strilaeff 7 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
LP — Rannon Arch 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K