Mounder baseball survives scare from Bulldogs, shut out GC to remain unbeaten
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TRYING TO TURN the double play was the Elk Mound defense in an April 29 conference baseball game at Boyceville. Mounder second baseman Jake Osborne prepared to fire the ball to first base after taking the flip from shortstop Peyton Vieth and stepping on second for an out. The relay to first, however, was not in time and the Bulldogs were able to score a run. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
There were some tense moments when the Elk Mound baseball team visited Boyceville April 29 for a Dunn-St. Croix Conference showdown.
The Mounders’ perfect season appeared to be in jeopardy when the feisty Bulldogs, who trailed Elk Mound by just a single game coming into the contest, pulled ahead 7 to 6 after the fifth inning. But, Elk Mound rallied to score a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings to pull out a 10-7 victory. Then four days later, the Mounders used a ten-run first inning and a one-hit pitching performance from a trio of hurlers to blank the Glenwood City Hilltoppers 13 to nothing in a five-inning contest that was played on the Mounders’ home field at Village Park.
With those two D-SC victories, Elk Mound, who moved up to fourth in the most recent Division 3 state coaches poll, improved to 9-0 in league play and an unblemished 11-0 for the season.
The Mounders will put their spotless record to the test this week with four straight road dates including a conference game against second-place Mondovi, who is just one back behind Elk Mound, and a Saturday tournament in Prescott. Elk Mound played at rival Colfax on Monday, then travels to Mondovi Thursday, have a non-conference game slated for Friday in Fall Creek before heading to Prescott for games versus the host Cardinals, La Crosse Logan and Ashland. Elk Mound returns home early next week for conference games against Spring Valley and Boyceville on May 13 and 14, respectively.
Boyceville
With senior ace Kaden Russo struggling a bit on the mound, Elk Mound found itself in the dog fight (pardon the pun) when it visited Boyceville Monday, April 29.
The Mounders scored a run in the top half of the first, but the Bulldogs answered with a score of their own in the bottom half.
In third, Elk Mound plated four runs to move in front 5 to 1. Boyceville, however, was not about to roll over. The host responded with three scores of its own in the bottom half of the frame to pull to within a single run.
ELK MOUND’S Carter Vieth is about to make contact with the baseball during a Dunn-St. Croix game in Boyceville April 29. Vieth had a pair of hits, walked three times and scored four runs to help the Mounders rally for a 10-7 win over the Bulldogs. Elk Mound is currently undeated and ranked fourth in the state’s Division 3 coaches’ poll. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
The next inning, Elk Mound added a score for a 6-4 lead only to have Boyceville even the contest with a pair of runs in the bottom half.
Boyceville then scored a run in its half of the fifth to take a 7-6 advantage. But, Elk Mound rallied for two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh and held on for the 10-7 win as relief pitcher Kamron Diermeier closed the book on the Bulldogs with three solid innings in which he allowed just one Boyceville hit for one run, struck out five Bulldogs batters and allowed just two bases on balls to earn the mound victory.
Russo, who started and threw four innings in which he allowed four Boyceville hits and six of its seven runs with six strikeouts but seven walks for the no decision, came through offensively as he went 2-for-3 at the plate with a home run, three RBIs and run scored. Carter Vieth was the only other Mounder to collect multiple hits in the game as he finished 2-for-2 with four runs scored thanks in part to drawing three walks from a trio of Bulldogs pitchers. Victor Noller, Jake Osborne, Diermeier, and Peyton Vieth each had a single for Elk Mound which finished with eight hits and 11 walks in the game.
Landyn Leslie, who threw two and a third innings for the Bulldogs, took the loss. The sophomore allowed four runs on three hits and walked three without a strikeout. Senior Devin Halama gave up six runs on five hits to the Mounders in his four frames on the mound including Russo’s home run and walked eight with just one strikeout. Another Boyceville sophomore, Carson Roemhild, threw just two-thirds of an inning without surrendering any hits or runs.
Both teams finished the game with three fielding errors.
Glenwood City
Batting through its order nearly two times in the first inning, Elk Mound took a commanding 10-0 lead over visiting Glenwood City in last Friday’s conference contest at Village Park and never looked back.
The Mounders went on to secure a 13-0 shut out in five innings as Kaden Russo, Victor Noller and Peyton Vieth combined to allow just a single Hilltopper hit. That hit, a single by GC’s Jared Hager, was credited to Russo, who started on the mound and gave three solid innings to earn the victory with six strikeouts and no walks. Noller and Vieth each threw one inning of hitless and scoreless ball. Noller struck out three while Vieth whiffed a pair and walked two.
Elk Mound added a single run in the bottom of the third and two more in its half of the fourth to bring the scoring to a conclusion.
Eight different players accounted for the Mounders eight hits which included a three-RBI double by Russo. Kamron Diermeier and Carter Garnett each finished with two RBIs. Peyton Vieth, Brayden Borek, Lucas Johnson and Russo each stole a base.