The evening air was filled with the resounding ping of the Albert Lea bats Friday in Waseca.

The Tigers cranked out 12 hits in a 14-1 win against the Bluejays to open the 2009 regular season.

It was a dominating win for Albert Lea and it didn’t take long for the Tigers to find their offense despite the long winter layoff.

Albert Lea scored nine runs in the first two innings and Logan Kortan turned in four sterling innings, keeping the Bluejays hitless while striking out six.

“I was wondering how we were going to respond,” said Albert Lea head coach Joe Sczublewski. “The boys really came out of the bus ready to play.”

The hitters looked like they were in midseason form with eight players collecting a hit in the game as the top of the order led the way against Waseca starter Sam Helland.

“He was throwing a lot of first pitch strikes, fastballs, and I think we keyed on that,” Kortan said.

Leadoff hitter Jordan Mondeel reached base three times and came around to score each time while No. 2 hitter Luke Grossman went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and No. 3 hitter, Kortan, went 2-for-2 with two RBIs as well.

Mondeel generated two walks with a full count and doubled in his third at-bat while Grossman connected for two doubles and Kortan hit two singles.

“Mondeel hit really good,” Grossman said. “He took a lot of pitches and was a good leadoff hitter for us.”

The bottom part of the order did its part as well with Aaron Klatt and Connor Kortan coming through with clutch, two-out hits in the first two innings.

With two outs in the first, Klatt hit a blast to the gap in right centerfield to score two runs and Connor Kortan followed with an RBI single to plate Klatt.

Then in the second inning Connor Kortan, a sophomore playing in his first varsity game, did it again with two outs when he singled home two more runs as the Tigers built a 9-1 lead. He finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

“He was shinning out there, both in the field at the plate,” Sczublewski said.

Connor Kortan also flashed some strong defense later in the game when he came up with a diving catch in shallow right field to keep Waseca hitless.

The Bluejays (0-1) scored their only run of the game when leadoff hitter Ryan Landkammer, who reached on an error, came around to score on a fielder’s choice.

Logan Kortan walked two in the inning but rallied to a get a ground out and two strikeouts to end the threat.

“I guess any pitcher opening day has maybe a little bit of butterflies,” Kortan said. “But after that I battled through it and just came the rest of the innings throwing hard, feeling confident and staying strong with my stuff.”

Kortan pitched four innings and did not allow a hit, striking out six hitters and walking just the two batters in the first inning.

Klatt pitched a scoreless inning in the fifth to end the game. He struck out the first batter he faced before Waseca got its first hit of the game with two outs.

Sczublewski said it was an outstanding game for his squad, but realizes more challenges lie ahead.

“We realize next week is a different week and we start the Big Nine play and that’s a whole different story,” he said.

Albert Lea 14, Waseca 1

Albert Lea 453 11x xx — 14 12 3

Waseca 100 00x xx — 1 1 3

WP: Logan Kortan 4 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

LP: Sam Helland 2 1/3 IP, 11 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 2 BB, 1 K