Avon 5, Buckman 2
At Buckman on 5/31/2009
Game Start Time: 1:30p
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Amateur baseball: Avon has the right moves
By Frank Rajkowski • frajkowski@stcloudtimes.com • June 1, 2009
BUCKMAN — Ask Dave Kalthoff for the recipe behind his team's success in Victory League play this season and the Avon Lakers player/manager provides a very simple formula.
"Pitching and defense," Kalthoff said. "That's what it all comes down to. Our pitchers have been throwing well. We've been turning some key double plays and we're taking advantage of our opportunities when we get them."
Sunday afternoon's 5-2 victory over Buckman certainly followed that pattern. Avon got a solid outing from starting pitcher Troy Wunderlich, scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch with the score tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh inning and added three more runs aided by three Billygoats' errors in the top of the ninth to put the game away.
With the win, the Lakers improved to 5-0 in Victory League play and 5-4 overall, remaining alone in first place atop the Victory League South Division standings.
"It's just like it's always been for us in years past," Wunderlich said. "We're playing solid defense and playing baseball the right way. We're playing small ball to move runners along and we're scoring runs when we have the chance."
Wunderlich went 6 2/3 innings. He allowed one run, seven hits and struck out five to record his first win of the season. The former Albany and Augustana (S.D.) player, who now teaches in Little Falls, missed his team's divisional victories over Opole and St. Stephen last weekend when his girlfriend's parents were injured in a car accident in Michigan.
But he was back with the team Sunday in sunny Buckman.
"We flew out there last Saturday and we didn't get back until Tuesday," said Wunderlich, who left the game in the seventh when Avon made two trips to the mound from the dugout forcing a pitching change. "Her Dad dislocated his hip and her Mom broke her leg. But they're going to be OK and that's the most important thing.
"It made it a lot easier on me to know we got two big wins while I was gone. I've been kind of struggling with arm problems all year (as a result of a torn left labrum). So this week, I just focused on my mechanics and my location. I felt pretty good today. I think the weather really helped."
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Buckman starter Jeremy Monson also pitched a solid game, going all nine innings and striking out three. He gave up an RBI single to Kalthoff in the top of the second, but delivered an RBI double to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth.
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However, in the top of the seventh, he allowed a lead-off single by Josh Hiltner, then threw a wild pitch to move Hiltner to second base. A sacrifice grounder by Charlie Lockridge advanced Hiltner to third, then Monson threw a pitch in the dirt and Buckman catcher Wade Bauer could not locate the ball, allowing the run to score and putting the Lakers on top 2-1.
"It was just a fastball in the dirt," said Monson, who is now 2-3 this season. "I didn't control the ball right."
That's where the score remained until the ninth inning when the Billygoats gave up three more runs helped along by three costly errors. Mark Kahl led off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to cut the gap to 5-2.
But it was too little, too late for a young Buckman team, which fell to 3-3 in league play and 3-3 overall.
"We didn't play a complete game," said Kahl, who finished 4-for-4. "We left a lot of guys on base (six, including three in the bottom of the seventh). We have a young team and we're still trying to get everything together. We're not as experienced as we need to be at making big plays at the right time."
Avon came up with more of those Sunday, and as a result the Lakers are still unbeaten in league play. That's even without one of their top players in Kurt Schlangen, who has played in only two games for Avon this season because of his other duties as a member of the Minnesota Gophers and now the St. Cloud River Bats.
"Scoring those late-inning runs proved pretty big today," said Kalthoff, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBI. "Those are the kind of plays we have to make when we have the chance. That's what makes the difference."
Avon 010 000 103 — 5 10 1
Buckman 000 000 001 — 2 8 4
AVON — Josh Hiltner 1-4, Gary Deters 1-5 RBI-2, Randy Lockridge 1-5 2B, Dave Kalthoff 3-4 RBI-2, Lincoln Haugen 1-4, Neil Manthe 2-4 2B, Ricky Hendrickson 1-3; WP-Troy Wunderlich (1-2) IP-6 2/3 R-1 H-7 SO-5 BB-3; Luke Manthe (S).
BUCKMAN — Corey Egan 1-3 2B, Logan Kalis 1-3, Mark Kahl 4-4 HR, Jeremy Monson 1-4 2B RBI, John Kahl 1-3; LP-Monson (2-3) IP-9 R-5 H-10 SO-3 BB-3, |
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Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | | Avon | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 1 | | Buckman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 |
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| Avon | | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
| Troy Wunderlich (W,1-1) | | 6 2/3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | | Luke Manthe (S,1) | | 2 1/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
AB - Wunderlich 23, Manthe 8
HP - Wunderlich |
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Umpires:
Time: 2:07
Weather: 80 Mostly Sunny
Wind: 15-20 mph
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