WADENA – The Wadena-Deer Creek baseball team ended last week with a loss to finish 1-3. The Wolverines bounced back in a big way with their win against Park Region Conference rival Sebeka on Monday.
After a shaky start, the WDC bats scored nine runs between the third and fifth innings to secure a 9-3 victory over the Trojans. The Wolverines improve to 9-3 on the season with a busy week ahead of them.
“It was good to get back on track after going 1-3 last week,” WDC head coach Kyle Dykhoff said. “We have a tough week ahead with four games so it was nice to get it off to a good start with a win.”
With the struggles of last week in the past, senior shortstop Isaac Hamann was happy to get the week started the best way possible.
“It was a good bounce-back win after a rough week last week,” he said. “I thought we came out a little dry. We eventually found our groove, got some hits together and scored nine runs.”
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Peyton Church was called to the mound for the Wolverines. He started the game with three straight outs in the top of the first. In the bottom half of the inning, Tyson Barthel grounded out to set up Evan Lunde with runners on second and third. Lunde hit a pop out to end the inning and leave the two runners stranded.
Sebeka struck first in the top of the second frame with two runs off two sacrifice flies. WDC looked to answer in the bottom of the second with runners on second and third but failed to bring them home yet again.
Church held the Trojans scoreless over the next couple of innings and the offense got his back. With the bases loaded, Lunde hit a two-RBI single to tie the game at two. With the bases loaded for the second time in the inning, Teshe Loer forced a walk to give WDC a 3-2 heading into the fourth inning.
The Wolverines tacked on three more runs courtesy of a Lunde sacrifice fly and back-to-back RBI doubles from Church and Brandon Wheeler. WDC entered the fifth inning with a 6-2 cushion. Sebeka responded with one run in the top of the fifth but it was the last run of the game for the Trojans.
After an RBI single by Hamann in the bottom of the fifth, Davis crushed a two-run home run to right field and expanded the Wolverines’ lead to 9-3.
Church retired the next six Trojan batters to end the game and secure the complete game. He pitched seven innings, struck out two and surrendered three hits, three runs and one walk. Dykhoff loved how Church responded after allowing two early runs in the second.
“He just threw strikes,” he said. “Every time a guy comes in and throws strikes, you are going to have an opportunity to win. I thought we played good defense today despite the amount of balls put in play. The boys did a good job at playing good defense behind him and Peyton kept plugging away and throwing strikes. Those two early runs were tough but he quickly settled back in.”
The offense backed up Church in a big way, scoring nine runs in three innings after struggling to bring runners home in the early innings.
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“It was nice to get the bats going because we have a big, long week ahead of us,” Hamann said. “Hopefully, we can continue to hit the ball like we did today and if we do, hopefully, we can come out with some wins.”
Hamann went 3-4 from the plate with an RBI and accounted for two runs. Davis blasted a two-run home run as his only hit of the game and kept a keen eye in the batter's box forcing three walks in his four at-bats. He also added two RBIs and accounted for three runs. Lunde ended his night with a team-high three RBIs going 1-3 at the plate.
The win was a great way to start the week but Dykhoff still sees some key areas of improvement if his team wants to take it to the next level.
“It would have to be that find-a-way-to-win attitude or guys coming in clutch with clutch hits,” he said. “We are going to have to find that with the tough part of our schedule on its way. Guys are going to have to dig in and find ways to win in close-ball games. That is what I want from us down the stretch, is to find ways to win with clutch hits or big pitching performances.”
SEBEKA- 0 2 0 0 1 0 0- 3
WADENA-DEER CREK- 0 0 3 3 3 0 X- 9
WADENA-DEER CREEK PITCHING- Peyton Church: 7IP, 2K, 3H, 3R, 1BB
WADENA-DEER CREEK HITTING- Kobe Synder: 1-5, R; Isaac Hamann: 3-4, 2R, RBI; Connor Davis: 1-1, 3R, 2RBI, 3BB; Tyson Barthel: 1-3, 2R; Evan Lunde: 1-3, 3RBI; Peyton Church: 1-2, RBI; Brandon Wheeler: 2-2, RBI, BB; Gunnar Olson: 1-3; Teshe Loer: 0-3, RBI, BB; Clyde Magnuson: 0-1, R; Connor Dutke: BB; Grant Seelhammer: 0-1; Carson Davis: BB
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