by Dave DeMars
news@thenewsleaders.com
Joes grind out 6-3 win over Lakers
Iron man Alex Kendall led the Joes to victory over the Clear Lake Lakers on July 29, as he held the mound for nine innings in a tour-de-force performance. Kendall held the Lakers scoreless until the ninth inning when they managed to push three runs across the plate and threatened to do more damage. But Kendall played firefighter and retired the last of the Lakers for a 6-3 win. In doing so, he threw 134 pitches – 94 for strikes. He struck out nine and issued no free trots to first base.
In a day when big-league managers pull their hair out when starting pitchers approach 100 throws and relievers can’t go more than 30 pitches, Kendall’s performance harkens back to the 60s and 70s when pitchers regularly finished the games they started with pitch counts approaching 140.
“It was a very tough game,” said Joes Manager Pat Schneider. “Their pitcher – a left-hander – didn’t allow us any opportunities to run because he had a very good move to first base. We finally broke the game open in about the eighth inning.”
It was the eighth inning when Peter Nelson found a pitch to his liking and sent it sailing over the fence. With the bases full, Nelson collected four RBIs and was two for five at the plate for the day.
“We were kind of struggling to score runs in previous games, but we finally came alive in the eighth,” Schneider said.
While Kendall put on a show, Lakers pitcher Mike Smith also had a good outing – going seven innings, throwing 112 pitches and allowing only two runs before being relieved. Smith notched eight strikeouts and three bases on balls.
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Team
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E L Clear Lake Lakers 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
8
5
10
St. Joseph 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
–
6
8
3
11
St. Joseph mauls the Lumberjacks 13-3
The St. Joseph Joes avenged an earlier 13 inning 4-2 loss by taking the Foley Lumberjacks to the woodshed and administering a 22-hit 13-3 whuppin’ on July 30.
It looked like it was going to be an intense game again as Foley jumped out front right away in the first inning. But the Joes came back and took the lead 2-1 at the end of the first inning.
The Lumberjacks picked away and managed a run in the second and tied the game. But in the third inning, the Joes cut the knot and pushed two runs across for a 4-2 lead. They added two more runs in the fourth inning, one more in the fifth and five in the sixth inning while allowing the Lumberjacks only one run in the sixth. That gave the Joes a 12-3 lead. The final run would come in the eighth inning.
“We just completely exploded,” said Joes Manager Pat Schneider. “This was so much different [than the previous game] and we managed to put our hitting shoes on and it worked in our favor.”
At the plate, it would be hard to pick out the real stars. As a whole the Joes smacked that little white pill of a ball like it was a beach volleyball. Peter Nelson went three for five; Ben Alvord three for six; Joe Stock, four for four. Nearly everyone got a hit this day.
On the mound Greg Anderson threw five innings, allowing two runs. Jack Atkinson relieved for two innings and allowed one run. Stock threw the last inning and the Joes ended the game 13-3 winners.
The Joes will travel to the region’s baseball playoffs on Saturday, Aug. 5. The game will be played in Hinckley with a starting time of 4 p.m. Who they will face off against has yet to be determined other than they will play the number four seed out of the eastern league. It is a double-elimination tournament so they will also play on Sunday, but who they play is dependent on whether they win or lose.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E L Foley 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 10 1 10 St. Joseph 2 0 2 2 1 5 0 1 13 22 0 14
Pitcher Joe Stock shows the effort and intensity of the pitcher as he lets fly with a hard pitch that will hopefully fool the batter.
Number 34, Hunter Blommer, rounds third base and glances back checking to see where the ball is and if there is a possibility of scoring.
