Baseball sweeps SCF

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The Wildcat baseball team played error-free defense and four different pitchers combined to walk just four batters while sweeping a doubleheader at St. Croix Falls, 6-2 and 7-0 Thursday.

Austin Johnson picked up the complete game win in the first game, allowing two runs on eight hits while striking out seven and walking two. Jack Herum threw five innings of scoreless ball in the nightcap, allowing just three hits while striking out four and walking two. Ricky Troester and Colin Pechacek didn’t allow a hit in the final two innings.

“Good defense, along with throwing strikes, will put any team in good position,” Wildcat head coach Ryan Bishop said. “Johnson and Herum both pitched well today. They didn’t try to strike everyone out, they got ahead of hitters and trusted their defense.”

The Cats were without the services of Marty Herum, who injured his ankle in practice earlier in the week and is likely done for the season. Curtis Christensen and Mark Bennett also missed the twin bill with illnesses, leaving the door open for some of the Wildcats’ underclassmen to step up.

Pechacek, a sophomore, made the best of his opportunity by blasting a two-run home run in the first game and pitching an inning of hitless ball in the nightcap. Sophomore Nate Soley also responded by going 3-for-3 in the second game of the doubleheader with a triple and RBI.

Tyler Hunter and Rickey Troester both had RBI doubles in the first inning of the opener to give the Cats a 2-0 lead. Pechacek hit a two-run homer in the second to make the score 4-0 and the Cats tacked on two runs in the seventh to make the final 6-2.

River Falls jumped on the board early in the late game as well on an RBI single by Dylan James and a two-run base hit by Trey Peterson. Soley tripled in the second and scored on a throwing error to make it a 4-0 score and Hunter singled in Johnson in the fifth to extend the lead to 5-0.

The Cats scored their final two runs in the fifth inning on back-to-back run-scoring singles by Tyler Dusek and Soley.

River Falls will close out the regular season Thursday at home against Eau Claire North. The Huskies beat conference leading Eau Claire Memorial last week to put themselves in contention for the BRC title. River Falls defeated Eau Claire North 4-2 back on May 11.

“After beating them last time, you can bet they are going to come in very determined,” Bishop said about the Huskies. “Hopefully our guys are up to the challenge to prove that last time wasn’t a fluke.”

Tags: river falls, high school sports, sports, wildcat, baseball