Mounder baseball earns sweep of Vikings

By Cara L. Dempski

COLFAX — When you are a young, inexperienced team, it can be intimidating to go up against one of the best, oldest, and most experienced teams in the conference.

It probably does not help to know the more experienced team is one of your biggest Dunn-St. Croix rivals.

Fans of Colfax and Elk Mound high schools were treated to some great weather in the team’s second match-up of the 2017 season, but the end result was somewhat lopsided. The Mounders blanked the Vikings for the second straight time, winning the Thursday, May 11 contest 17-0 in just five innings as the Mounders’ junior pitching duo of Ethan Kjellberg and Blake Rosenthal combined to throw a perfect game – no walks or hits.

Kjellberg, who started and went four innings to register the win struck out eight of the 12 batters he faced. Rosenthal took the mound in the fifth and struck out two Colfax batters to end the game. The victory allowed Elk Mound to maintain a share of the  Large D-SC along with Durand.

Elk Mound improved to 9-1 in conference while Colfax dropped to 0-8.

“It was a rough game all around,” Colfax head coach Kirk Secraw said. “Elk Mound is a good team, and we had errors we can’t afford to have.”

Mounder coach Paul Andrea said the Vikings are a young team, and Elk Mound’s experience definitely gave the visiting team an advantage in their two games this season.

STRETCHING OUT — Colfax catcher Mitchel Harmon stretches up and out to reach a pitch during the Vikings’ May 11 home game against Elk Mound. The Colfax squad were 0-2 against the Mounders this season after losing the game. —photo by Cara L. Dempski

Of course, it helps that Elk Mound’s bats have heated up in recent weeks.

“Our bats continued to stay hot against Colfax with the 13 hits we pounded out” Andrea noted. “Ethan Kjellberg hit a home run in his second consecutive game, and is showing more power lately.”

The Mounders opened the game with a trio of runs from Dylan Curry, Carter Pritchard and Dane Lew before Viking pitcher Tyler Snyder could get a third out off junior Dakota Bedell and get their first crack at Kjellberg, who was Elk Mound’s starting pitcher.

Unfortunately, the first three batters Kjellberg battled accounted for Colfax’s three outs to end the first inning. The Mounder hurler caught Snyder looking, had catcher Mitchel Harmon taken out at first, and struck Devin Lamm out swinging to give the Elk Mound batsmen another chance to score.

HURLING SOME HEAT — Mounder pitcher Ethan Kjellberg earned a win at Colfax May 11 to make Elk Mound’s record 2-0 against the Vikings this season. He along with Blake Rosenthal combined for a perfect game as they held Colfax without a hit or walk in the 17-0, five-inning win. —photo by Cara L. Dempski

Kole Ploeckelman was the first Elk Mound player to face Snyder in the second, and earned a walk to send Curry to the plate. Curry earned the team’s first out, before the Mounders went on a streak of hits that garnered the orange and black seven runs. Carter Prtichard singled and Kjellberg helped out his own cause with a three-run homer in his at bat.

Elk Mound scored four more run in the second as it drew four walks and took advantage of a pair of Colfax errors.

Kjellberg then made short work of the Viking batters, striking out Polden and Jackson Harvey swinging, and catching Nick Jensen looking to end the inning.

Elk Mound sent five batters to the plate in the third, but were held scoreless before turning the tables on the Vikings in the bottom half of the inning to end the third without either team moving any further ahead.

The Mounders sent Curry, Pritchard, Kjellberg and Lew home in the top of the fourth after Colfax got outs off Bedell and Ploekelman. Curry and Pritchard both singled while Kjellberg and Lew walked. Relief pitcher Chris Scharlau got a third out off Hunter Adleman, who he struck out swinging to send his team up to bat.

Snyder took the Vikings’ first out in the bottom of the fourth after popping an infield fly for an easy grab from Kjellberg. Harmon drove a fly ball to center field where Mounder Adleman caught it for the second out, and then Kjellberg struck Lamm out swinging to end the inning.

Elk Mound was not finished, as it added another three runs in the top of the fifth to push out to a 17-0 lead before the Vikings stepped up to the plate again. Dylan Black along with Curry Pritchard, Kjellberg and Lew all registered singles in the inning with Ploekelman, Curry and Pritchard scoring runs.

Elk Mound reliever Blake Rosenthal got three outs after Polden’s fly was caught near first, Harvey was struck out looking, and Jensen went down swinging to end the game.

Pritchard and Curry led the Elk Mound offensive with three hits apiece. Kjellberg added a pair of hits including that three-run homer. Rosenthal had a hit and three RBIs as the Mounders finished with 13 hits in all including four extra base hits with doubles by Hunter Adelman, Rosenthal and Curry.

Ploeckelman and Bedell logged one runner batted in each, and Logan Bergh and Curry recorded one stolen base each. Pritchard’s quick runs earned him two stolen bases in the game.

Snyder went one and two-thirds innings on the mound for winless Colfax, allowing five hits and 10 runs before Scharlau took over. He went two and one-third innings for three hits and four runs, but struck out three Elk Mound batters. Harmon took over for one inning, giving up five hits and three runs.

ELK MOUND 17, COLFAX 0
Elk Mound…………………3  7  0  4  3 — 17
Colfax……………………….0  0  0  0  0 — 0