Morris Eagles down Madison, Clinton

Town team ball is associated with summer but it gets going in spring. For a while it can get upstaged by the prepsters. But it really begins to blossom in mid-June.

Right now (on 5/26) our blue-clad Morris Eagles are at .500. Back-to-back wins lifted them there.

First the Morris crew disposed of the Madison Mallards 9-5 on May 19. Then they got past the Clinton Cards by an 8-7 score.

 

Eagles 9, Madison 5

This was the Eagles' first triumph of the young season. It saw the Eagles finally separate themselves from the Mallards in the eighth. It was a close game up until then.

A three-run rally in the eighth saw Ryan Beyer sock a two-out triple. He pushed two runs in with this blow. Actually the Madison right fielder almost made a great play. He couldn't quite gather the ball in.

Beyer was able to trot home on an errant throw. Thus Morris had a comfortable four-run lead which held up.

Former UMM student-athlete Nate Haseman got the pitching win in relief. He was solid, allowing no runs and striking out three in his 3 1/3 inning stint. He allowed two hits and walked one.

Nate had his pitching arm called on in relief of Nathan Gades. Gades got roughed up a bit, allowing seven hits and five runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings pitched. He fanned three batters and walked one.

The third Eagle pitcher to see action was Craig Knochenmus. Craig pitched one inning and got all three outs via strikeout. He allowed a hit and walked a batter but those strikeouts put out any fire.

Eric Asche is back into the Eagles' fold after a year away. He was a cog with his bat, hitting safely twice in four at-bats including a double. His RBI contribution was a hefty three, and he stole a base.

Kirby Marquart was a terror in Madison's eyes as the leadoff man. Kirby did what leadoff men are supposed to do: get on base, period. He accomplished this five times, drawing four walks and socking a run-scoring double. He scored two runs.

Ryan Beyer was right behind Kirby in the batting order and certainly made noise. Ryan's boxscore line was 4-2-2-2 (at-bats, runs, hits, RBIs).

Knochenmus went two-for-three with two runs scored. Haseman complemented his pitching with a hit in his only at-bat.

Brett Anderson stroked two hits in three at-bats, scored a run and drove in one. Mitch Carbert scored a run. Cole Riley added to the mix with a hit.

The Eagles' line score was nine runs, eleven hits and three errors.

The Mallards held their own with ten hits.

 

Eagles 8, Clinton 7

The Eagles got outhit 13-11 but prevailed in the column that counts most: runs scored.

This May 20 game at Clinton ended with an 8-7 score with Morris celebrating arrival at the .500 plateau.

The Eagles also had to overcome the errorless ball played by Clinton. Not only that, they had to survive a quite substantial late-game scare. Yes, the Cards rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth. Fans were at edge of seats but Morris was able to survive.

Morris assumed a 3-1 lead in the first inning of this Land O' Ducks League game. Eric Riley's bat made noise in the first, producing a two-run double down the left field line.

The score became 4-1 in the second. Ryan Beyer socked an opposite-field triple in the second, driving in a run.

Riley's bat came through again in the fifth, when the score improved to 6-2 in Morris' favor.

There was still more improvement in the eighth thanks in part to a Brett Anderson RBI single. A double steal pushed in yet another run, so this game is a cakewalk, right?

The never-say-die Cards, striving to bear down at their home diamond, plated one run in the eighth and four in the ninth. Add 'em all up and the Cards are still a run shy. But the Eagles had to breathe a sigh of relief.

Three Eagles worked on the mound in this game. The bulk of the pitching was done by veteran Matthew Carrington. The Cards managed eight hits off Carrington but all were singles. Jamie Van Kempen had his arm called on for 1 2/3 innings and alas, he was off his game. He got roughed up although he did strike out two batters.

Then came Kirby Marquart on the hill. It was up to Kirby to close this one out. He in fact got the save, getting the final out with the tying run on.

Let's look at the offense: Ryan Beyer was in the groove, posting three-for-four numbers on this day. He scored two runs, drove in one and was a baserunning force with two stolen bases.

Marquart went two-for-five with two runs scored. Eric Riley performed well in the meat of the order with his two-for-five line along with three RBIs and two runs. Cole Riley, Craig Knochenmus, Anderson and Van Kempen each had one hit. Eric Asche drove in a run.

The Eagles came out of this game with a 2-2 record and a determination to get over .500.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com