Boyceville baseball drops two of three conference games to open season

Boyceville was finally able to get its baseball season underway last week, albeit a week and a half late thanks to Mother Nature.

The results, however, may not be what second-year Head Coach Michael Roemhild and his charges were looking for as the Bulldogs lost two of its three contests – all in Dunn-St. Croix conference play – to open the 2016 schedule.

Boyceville hosted Elk Mound a week ago Monday, April 11 in its season, conference and home opener with less than a stellar result as the Mounders, a favorite in the large D-SC, blanked the Bulldogs 14-0.

Boyceville rebounded three days later for its first win, a 9-2 victory in Colfax on Thursday, April 14.

That winning feeling did not last long as another of the large division favorites, Durand, came to Boyceville this past Monday, April 18 and left with a bruising 17-2 win over Boyceville.

The Bulldogs, now 1-2, will host conference members Pepin/Alma on Thursday (April 21) and Mondovi next Monday, April 25.

Elk Mound

Boyceville’s opener against Elk Mound was a bit closer than the 14-0 score would indicate.

The Mounders held a 6-0 lead after six inning of play.

But in the top of the seventh, Elk Mound picked up eight runs, all but one was unearned, off relievers Hunter Anderson and Bryce Boda to put the game out of reach.

In that inning, the Mounders had four hits and took advantage of a pair of Bulldogs’ errors, three walks and a hit batsman to score the eight runs.

Elk Mound collected 14 hits off of Boyceville pitching including starter James Palmer who took the loss despite giving up just four runs on six hits in four innings of work.

The Bulldogs finished with just three hits – singles by Micadin Kahl, Luke Knudtson and Bryce Boda – and committed eight errors in total.

Elk Mound starting pitcher Brandon Bohl threw a solid five innings to get the victory allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out nine. Trey Mohr relieved Bohl in the final two innings giving up just one hit.

“I thought we played solid defense the first six innings,” commented Coach Roemhild. “Bohl is a good pitcher that you can’t let get ahead of you in the count.”

“When you have eight errors in a game I don’t care who you play you won’t win,” said Roemhild.

“Offensively, we need to find a way to get on base.”

Colfax

Trailing early, Boyceville rallied for a 2-0 deficit against Colfax to take a 3-2 lead into the sixth inning with a run in the third and two more in the fifth.

In the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs scored six times on just one hit. The Vikings committed two errors and issued four walks in the frame to help the Bulldogs secure a 9-2 road win Thursday, April 14.

Despite another multiple error game (five in all) and just six hits, Boyceville relied on a strong defensive effort and solid pitching.

James Palmer allowed four hits and the Vikings only two runs in five innings of work to pick up the win. He struck out a pair.

Hunter Anderson threw the final two innings in relief and gave up just two hits.

“James and Hunter both pitched well,” added Roemhild.

“We came out strong defensively, but just couldn’t get our bats going,” said Roemhild. “Defensively, we weren’t aggressive enough and had five errors, which is five too many. But it was good to get our first win.”

Micadin Kahl and James Palmer led the Bulldogs offense with 2-for-3 performances at the plate. Jaden Reisimer and Hunter Anderson each had a hit.

Durand

Coach Roemhild knew that the Bulldogs would need to play much better than they had in its first two games when Durand came to town Monday, April 18.

Unfortunately they didn’t!

Boyceville had a bevy of errors for a third straight game and struggled on the mound and at the plate.

“You can’t have seven errors, walk ten guys and only have five hits and expect to win,” stated Roemhild.

James Palmer and Hunter Anderson each went two and a third innings with Palmer starting the game.

The pair gave up nine runs with only five being earned.

Luke Knudtson pitched two-thirds of an innings and allowed for six runs on just two hits. Bryce Boda pitched a third of an inning.

“If we want to win, we have to have our best offensive and defensive game,” said Roemhild.

Hunter Anderson had two of the Bulldogs five hits going two-for-two at the plate. Cooper Boesl, Maxwell Engel and Jaden Reisimer had the other hits.

Durand score in five of the six innings with eight runs in the fifth, three each in the third and fourth innings, two runs in the first and another in the second.