Albert Lea wins tight game, earns coach his 400th career victory

A bit of sacrifice helped the Tigers edge out a win in one close game of baseball.

Kole Smith hit a sacrifice bunt in the sixth inning to score the winning run in the Tigers’ 5-4 over Waseca Monday at Hayek Field.

Coach Joe Sczublewski, who got his 400th win with Monday’s victory, said Smith’s play was a “perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt,” and said that it scored Parker Mullenbach in the bottom of the sixth with what would end up being the team’s winning run. Mullenbach started the inning with a double, followed by Mason Hammer walking and then stealing second.

Also contributing at the plate was Jake Thompson, who was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

On the mound for the Tigers was Tyler Steele, who allowed five hits, four runs with two of them earned, two walks and one strikeout in the 4 2/3 innings he pitched.

Tristin Muilenberg then took over and did not allow any hits or runs, with one walk and one strikeout to earn the win.

Chris Endersen wrapped up with a save with just one walk and no hits, runs or strikeouts in his one inning.

Keeping things close throughout most of the game, Waseca scored two runs in the second inning to compare to Albert Lea’s three runs. Waseca then scored two more in the fifth, while the Tigers scored one in the third before their big play in the sixth.

“It was a tight game both ways,” said Sczublewski. “This was a well-played high school game.”

Before the start of Monday’s game, Ryan “Pie” Trusedell’s jersey number was retired. Truesdell was a 2005 Albert Lea High School graduate who played baseball for the Tigers. He died in 2007 in a grain elevator accident, inspiring friends and family to have a memorial softball tournament in his honor each fall. A number of his family and friends were present Monday to watch his No. 9 be retired.

The Tigers, now 4-5, will play at 5 p.m. today at Faribault.