Vikings baseball team blast Bulldogs twice

Playing a double header after the scheduled single games were postponed earlier. The Colfax baseball team banged out 24 hits to take 16-6 and 11-3 wins over the Boyceville Bulldogs in games played under sunny skies May 20 in Boyceville. Colfax opened regional play at home against these same Bulldogs May 24.

 Game 1

After winning the conference championship just a year ago, the Bulldogs are in a re-building mode, having to replace several starters with younger kids. The Vikings took advantage of a new pitching staff and scored runs in six of the seven innings of the game, getting on the board in the first when Nate Leibfried led off with a double and came home on a single by Ethin Kiekhafer for a 1-0 lead. Boyceville threatened in the bottom of the inning but center fielder Michael Hover threw home to catcher Austin Lee to nail a Bulldog runner for the second out of the inning and pitcher Sawyer DeMoe fielded a ground ball for the third out.

After Jeremiah Harder drew a one out walk in the second, Logan Mittelstadt sent the ball over the fence for two runs and Jeremiah Wait followed with a free pass and scored on another Liebfried base hit for a 4-0 lead. Kiekhafer slammed a leadoff double in the third inning and two batters later, scored the fifth Colfax run on a two base hit from Harder.

Boyceville picked up a run in the bottom of the third on a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a basehit and had a chance to add some runs in the fourth when DeMoe walked the first two batters of the inning. He took charge however, and got the next three batters out, the third one on a strikeout.

Colfax broke the game open with six runs in the fifth as Kiekhafer reached on an error and DeMoe and Jarrod Rudi singled, followed by an out on a fielder’s choice by Harder. Mittelstadt banged out a single, Wait reached base on a Bulldog error, Hover knocked in two runs with a double and Lee picked up an RBI with a single for a an 11-1 lead.

DeMoe gave up a walk and four singles to the Boyceville batters in the bottom of the fifth but escaped with giving up just one run as he whiffed the final batter of the inning. DeMoe then led off the top of the sixth by crushing the ball for a round tripper. Rudi followed with a walk and eventually scored on yet another hit by Liebfried, putting the Vikings up 13-2.

Boyceville’s Jordan Kuhn singled off DeMoe to start their half of the sixth but it looked like DeMoe was still in control when he struck out the next two Bulldogs. But a walk, an error, a passed ball and a single forced Wilson to bring in Kiekhafer for some relief pitching. Kiekhafer gave up a hit then forced a ground out to shortstop Wait to get out of the jam with his team up 13-5.

Colfax wasn’t done yet as they added three more runs in their final at bat when Hover scored after a walk on a double from Kiekhafer, DeMoe smacked another single and Rudi brought Kiekhafer in on a basehit. Harder added another RBI with a single for the final Viking’s run. After giving up a leadoff hit in the bottom of the inning Kiekhafer took care of business and ended the game forcing two ground balls and a fly out.

Kiekhafer led the hitting barrage going 4 for 5 with two RBIs, Liebfried and  Mittelstadt were both 3 for 4 with a pair of RBIs, DeMoe ended up 3 for 5 also with two RBIs, Harder finished 2 for 4 and plated three runners while  Wait and Liebfried both stole two bases. DeMoe picked up the win giving up six runs on eight hits with both seven strikeouts and walks.

Colfax           1  3  1  0  6  2  3 – 16
Boyceville   0  0  1  0  2  3  0 – 6

Game 2

Things were fairly quiet for the first two innings with neither team scoring, but the Bulldogs came up with a pair of runs in the top of the third after Colfax pitcher Mittelstadt walked the first batter and gave up a pair of singles. The damage could have been worse after an infield error and another basehit but an interference call on the Bulldogs ended the inning with two runners on base.

The Vikings came right back however as Harder opened the inning with a base hit and Mittelstadt and Wait both reached on infield errors. Then Liebried slapped a ball through the infield and apparently no one covered second base for Boyceville which resulted in a series of throwing errors allowing all three runners to come home and Liebfried to reach third. Hover didn’t waste any time himself as he sent a tater over the fence to bring Liebfried in for the fifth run of the inning. Lee took a free pass, and Kiekhafer singled, forcing the Bulldog coach to make a pitching change. Brett Boda promptly walked DeMoe and Rudi, bringing Lee in and although Harder grounded into a double play, Kiekhafer came home. DeMoe followed suit for the final run of the inning on another hit by Mittelstadt for an 8-2 lead.

The Bulldogs went down in order in the fourth while Colfax added another run after Liefried singled, moved to third on ground out by Hover and crossed the plate on a passed ball. Kiekhafer and DeMoe came up with back to back hits while Rudi walked  with the bases loaded. A fly out ended the inning with ducks on the pond.

Boyceville came up with a run when Hunter Anderson reached on a Colfax error, moved to third on a couple of bunts and stole home but Mittelstadt forced a pop up to get out of the inning.

Colfax ended their scoring with two runs in the fifth with Mittelstadt and Wait taking walks and scoring on a balk and another groundout by Hover putting the score at 11-3. Mittelstadt gave up two singles in the sixth but finished the game off with a strikeout and a fly out. The game was called an inning short due to darkness.

Mittelstadt gave up just four hits to earn the win with four strikeouts and four walks. The Vikings had eight hits in the game with two coming from both Liebfried and Kiekhafer. Liebried and Hover each picked up three RBIs.

Boyceville  0  0  2  0  1  0 – 3
Colfax          0  0  8  1  2  X – 11