Vikings drop pair to Mondovi, Hover’s blast sinks Central

The week didn’t start out very well for the Colfax baseball team as they lost a pair of contests to Mondovi 10-8 and 3-0 on the Buffaloes home field May 13, but they came back to sneak a 6-5 win out in a single contest at home against the St. Croix Central Panthers May 16.

Mondovi-Game 1

Nate Liebfried started the game with a bang for the Vikings, smacking a single, then came home on a base hit from Austin Lee for 1-0 Colfax lead in the top of the first. Although starting pitcher Ethin Kiekhafer only gave up four hits in the game to the Buffalo batters, he issued a couple of walks in the bottom half of the inning to go with a Viking error which allowed them to take a 2-1 lead. Mondovi erupted for five runs in the fourth on a couple of hits and two more infield errors before the Vikings mounted a small come back with three in the fourth as Logan Mittelstadt, Jeremiah Wait and Liebfried all crossed the plate on a double by Michael Hover, leaving them down 7-4.

Falling further behind at 10-4, Colfax came up with four runs in their final at bat to make things interesting when Liebfried, Hover and Kiekhafer all singled and with two outs, Jarrod Rudi, Jeremiah Harder and Logan Mittelstadt all drew walks followed by a basehit by Wait, but a fly ball ended the game with the bases loaded.

Liebfried went 3 for 4 at the plate while Hover was 2 for 4. Kiekhafer took the loss, allowing nine runs on four hits with six strikeouts and five walks.

Colfax        1  0  0  3  0  0  4 – 8
Mondovi  2  5  0  0  2  1  X – 10

Game 2

Colfax came up with seven hits in the game but couldn’t come up with the big one when they needed it as they left the bases loaded in the second inning after falling behind 1-0. They failed to tie the score in the third as they left Kiekhafer stranded at second after a double, and again in the fourth, Liebfried led off with a two base hit and remained there after three straight outs by his teammates. Mondovi added two runs in the sixth and the game ended with a pair of Colfax runners on the basepaths in what turned out to their final at bat since the game was called due to darkness.

Sawyer DeMoe was tagged with the loss, giving up one hit with nine walks and five Ks in his six innings. Kiekhafer and Mittelstadt were both 2 for 3 at the plate.

Mondovi   0  1  0  0  0  2 – 3
Colfax         0  0  0  0  0  0 – 0

St. Croix Central

Hover started on the mound and gave up a one out single in the first but the runner was erased when catcher Lee threw him out trying to steal second and Hover ended the Panther inning with a strikeout. Central took a 2-0 lead in the second however, on a couple of hits, a wild pitch, a passed ball and an infield error before Hover bore down and struck out two batters to end the inning. Colfax came back to knot things up in their half as Kiekhafer and DeMoe drew walks and moved up on a wild pitch, Rudi beat out an infield grounder to bring a run in and Harder singled to right center for an RBI. Three fly balls ended the inning with two runners on base.

After two quick outs in the bottom of the third, Kiekhafer doubled to the fence and DeMoe (on his 16th birthday) duplicated the shot to bring him in for a 3-2 lead. Colfax added another run in the fourth but gave up the two run lead when Central came up with three runs in the top of the sixth. Hover struck out the first batter of the inning then gave up three hits, forcing coach Tim Wilson to bring Kiekhafer in for relief. Kiekhafer whiffed the next two batters, stranding a runner on second.

In the bottom of the inning, Wait reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and trotted home as Hover, redeeming himself, sent the ball over the fence with two outs for what proved to be the winning runs as Kiekhafer put the Panthers down in order in the seventh.

DeMoe came up with two of the seven Colfax hits, both doubles, while Kiekhafer added a two bagger himself. Kiekhafer earned the win, striking out three of the five batters he faced while Hover allowed eight hits with eight Ks and two walks in 5 1/3 innings on the mound.

The Vikings will end the regular season with a double header at Boyceville May 20, then will host the same Bulldog team for a first round regional game May 24.

St. Croix Central  0  2  0  0  0  3  0 – 5
Colfax                        0  2  1  1  0  2  X – 6