Dual pitchers, Haaland combine to power Albert Lea

Senior outfielder Chris Stahl doesn’t get a lot of opportunities at the plate. He made the most of one Tuesday.

With the Albert Lea Tigers baseball team leading Rochester Mayo 4-2 with two outs in the bottom

of the fifth inning, Stahl swung on the first pitch he saw and hit an RBI single to left field, the first hit of his varsity career. Stahl scored from first base on the Tigers’ next at bat and slid into home plate face first, igniting the crowd at Hayek Field. The Tigers won for the eighth time in their first 10 games this season 7-2.

Stahl’s only at bat came in substitution for Aaron Klatt, who pitched four innings before fouling a ball off his left foot in the fourth inning and sat the rest of the game.

“I just wanted to get it and help out how I could,” Stahl said. “It felt really good to help out the entire team and get everyone going again.”

With a 3-2 lead and two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Tigers broke the game open with timely hitting.

J.T. Bellrichard and Makael Lunning grounded out to start before Ethan Abben hit a two-out single

to center field. Cory Hansen scored Abben with an double to right field and a balk by Spartans pitcher Brandon Zywicki moved Hansen to third. Conner Kortan walked to put runners on the corners before Stahl drove in Hansen with a single to left. Cole Sorenson drove in the Tigers’ final two runs with a double to center field before Cody Haaland finally ended the eight-batter inning with a swinging strikeout.

The Tigers (8-2, 8-2 Big Nine) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning off RBIs from Bellrichard and Josh Eisenbraun. After Klatt led off the inning with a strikeout, Sorenson reached on an infield single to third base. Haaland then hit a grounder up the middle of the infield that hit the second-base bag and hopped into center field to put runners on first and second. Eisenbraun scored Sorenson on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt, and Bellrichard drove in Haaland with a double to left-center field.

The Spartans (4-4, 4-3) tied the game 2-2 in the top of the third off four hits, and Haaland hit an RBI single to center field in the bottom of the fourth to put the Tigers back on top for good. Haaland was one of two Tigers batters with multiple hits (2) and he also had a stolen base.

This was the second time this season the Tigers beat Zywicki, the Spartan’s top pitcher.

“He’s one of the top pitchers in the Big Nine and to be able to beat him twice is a major accomplishment,” Tigers coach Joe Sczublewski said. “We were happy to win the game with him on the mound.”

The Spartans had opportunities to score in the first two innings but stranded five baserunners.

In the first, the Spartans loaded the bases with one out on an error, single and walk. Klatt then got Ben Alexander to strike out looking on a 1-2 count and Tyler Essig to ground out to end the inning.

In the second inning, two of the first three Spartans batters singled and Mayo had runners on the corners with one out. Klatt then got the following two batters to ground out to Abben at shortstop.

“The defense was playing pretty solid behind (Klatt),” Sczublewski said. “They stranded a lot of runners and a lot of that has to do with Aaron making some pretty good pitches.”

Klatt struck out two batters and walked one before exiting in the bottom of the fourth inning with a foot injury. Sorenson pitched three scoreless innings in relief and struck out three batters while walking the first batter he faced.

“Cole is just such a competitor,” Sczublewski said. “Once Aaron couldn’t go, Cole immediately volunteered to go in and pitch.”

Sorenson threw 40 pitches and is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Thursday at Mankato West (2-5, 2-5). Sczublewski said Sorenson called the three-inning outing a “good tune up” and that he still plans on pitching Thursday.

Albert Lea 7, Rochester Mayo 2

RM 002 000 0 — 2 9 1

AL 020 140 x — 7 7 2

WP — Aaron Klatt 4 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO

LP — Brandon Zywicki 6 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO

Albert Lea hitting: Ethan Abben 1-3, R, SO; Cory Hansen 1-3, 2B, R, RBI, 2 SO; Conner Kortan 0-2, R, BB, 2 SO; Aaron Klatt 0-2, 2 SO; Cole Sorenson 2-2, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI; Cody Haaland 2-3, R, RBI, SO, SB; Josh Eisenbraun 0-1, RBI, BB; J.T. Bellrichard 1-2, 2B, RBI, Makael Lunning 0-3, 2 SO; Chris Stahl 1-1, R, RBI

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