Cadott defensive woes lead to a lone victory

By Ginna Young

It was a long week of conference games for the Cadott baseball program, including a make-up double-header.

May 2 vs. McDonell conference (W 10-9)

The Hornets began the week hosting McDonell, where Cadott got out to an early lead, scoring six runs in the opening two innings. The Macks got a run in the third inning, then proceded to score eight runs over the fifth and sixth innings.

However, the Hornets refused to be cowed. “We gave up the lead and grinded it out,” said coach Brandon Geist. “Never gave up and had an exciting come-back victory.”

Cadott scored two runs in the sixth and two in the seven inning, to reel in a slim 10-9 win.

Sophomore Warren Bowe took the mound for Cadott, going five innings, and allowing 4 hits, 5 runs and 4 walks, while striking out 8. Junior Connor Roth then took over pitching for the remaining two innings, giving up 4 hits, 4 runs and 4 walks, and striking out 3 batters.

Offensively, junior Axel Tegels came away with 3 hits, followed by junior Ashton Bremness, Bowe and freshman Michael Wellner, with 2 hits each, while senior Tristan Drier and Roth each added a hit.

“Everyone was engaged and this was a great team win,” said Geist.

May 4 vs. Osseo-Fairchild conference (L 17-7)

Next up on the list, was Osseo-Fairchild on the road, but the Thunder brought their offense to the contest.

“We were able to keep the bats going, but Osseo was just too much to handle with their bats,” said Geist.

Eventually, time ran out on the Hornets and the game went to the Thunder, 17-7.

Bremness was at the helm for Cadott, going five innings and giving up 12 hits, 13 runs and 3 walks, and striking out 6. Junior Henry Danielson then took over, pitching for two innings, while allowing 3 hits, 4 runs and 3 walks.

Roth led for the Hornets, with 4 hits, and Tegels, Bowe and Wellner all had 2 hits each. Drier and junior Brandon Sikora chipped in with a hit each.

“I was really proud with how the guys kept playing until the end,” said Geist. “Hopefully, we can keep building; a lot of positives coming from this team.”

May 8 vs. Bloomer conference (L 18-7)

In what was a make-up game from one rained out in April, the Hornets traveled to Bloomer to take on the Blackhawks. Cadott got on the board first, with three runs, but Bloomer quickly answered back with six runs over two innings, then knocked in nine runs in just the fourth inning.

“We started out fast the first game, and Bloomer was able to string some big innings together and put us in a hole,” said Geist. “But, the team kept fighting and were able to put together some offense to extend the game.”

Although Cadott tried to mount a comeback, the game would go to the home team, 18-7.

Roth went just over three innings on the mound for the Hornets, allowing 8 hits, 9 runs and 3 walks, while striking out 4. Bremness took a turn for Cadott, pitching under an inning, with 2 hits, 6 runs and 5 walks, with a strikeout to his credit. Danielson also was at the helm, going two innings, and giving up 4 hits, 3 runs and 3 walks.

Drier came up big on offense for the Hornets, with 4 hits, followed by Roth, with 3 hits. Tegels, Sikora, Bowe and Wellner all added a hit each.

May 8 vs. Bloomer conference (L 11-0)

“In game two, we weren’t able to make the plays defensively to keep Bloomer down,” said Geist.

The second part of the double-header didn’t go as planned for Cadott, as the offense wasn’t able to help out the defense and the Blackhawks claimed an 11-0 shut-out win.

“We had few chances to score and just didn’t get the big bit,” said Geist. “Pitching was a little shaky and Bloomer used their patient approach to keep the pressure on.”

Bowe was again on the mound, going two innings and giving up 2 hits, 5 runs and 5 walks, but striking out 6. Tegels also took the helm for under an inning, allowing 1 hit, 4 runs and 2 walks. Freshman Aiden Rykal also tried his hand at pitching for under an inning, giving up a hit, a run and a walk. Junior Braden Denzine went an inning for the Hornets, allowing 2 hits and a run, while striking out a batter.

On the offensive side of things, Tegels, Roth, junior Nolan Nordrum and Wellner all came up with a hit.