by Dave DeMars
June 1-3 was a great weekend for baseball at Champion Field – especially if you were a Sartell Muskie.
Muskies trounce Steves 6-0
Friday night the Muskies played host to the St. Stephen Steves and pulled off a 6-0 victory. John Schumer held the mound for six good innings giving up three hits, striking out six and walking only two batters. Adam Wenker finished the seventh inning and continued to hold the Steves scoreless.
In the hitting department it was Andrew Deters, Ethan Carlson and Jake Sweeter each collecting two hits. The Muskies collected nine hits in all with third baseman Jace Otto using his hit to drive in three runs at once.
Muskies put the whammy on Watkins 4-2
Austin Gohl did the honors on the mound for the Muskies against Watkins. He pitched five innings giving up three hits and two runs and striking out nine before Max Koprek came in as relief. Koprek allowed three hits, struck out three but held the line against Watkins allowing no runs.
Sweeter had the heavy bat this day driving in two runs by dumping a home run over the fence. Deters scored twice as the Watkins pitchers struggled to maintain control on the mound.
Muskies nip the Blue Ox 2-1
Things got tense quickly when Wenker threw a fence finder and the Bemidji Blue Ox took a 1-0 lead after the first inning. But Wenker settled down and retired the side. And that lone run was as much as the Blue Ox would get as Wenker threw effectively for the next six innings scattering five hits, striking out seven and giving up no free passes. Control was the name of the game and Wenker had it.
The Muskies came back and scored a run of their own in the bottom of the first and the game stayed knotted at one a piece until the bottom of the sixth. The Blue Ox pitcher got into a bit of a jam when he walked Brian Schellinger and threw two wild pitches and gave Cody Partch a second walk. Deters took advantage of the situation and hammered out a single to drive Schellinger in. But that was all the Muskies could muster – not a lot, but enough to win the game and the tournament.
Sweeter was the tournament MVP with a .625 batting average for the tournament. He went five for eight including a home run.
Southpaw John Schumer of the Sartell Muskies fires a hard one during the game against the St. Stephen Steves.
Tim Burns gets a good look at the pitch in a game against Watkins. The Muskies won 4-2.
The Sartell Muskies gather to congratulate Jake Sweeter after he pounded a two-run homer over the fence against Watkins.