In a showdown between Rice County rivals, the Dundas Dukes used a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to gain a 4-3 victory over the Faribault Lakers in town ball play on Wednesday, July 17 at Memorial Park in Dundas, Minn.
The Dukes entered their half of the ninth inning trailing 3-2 and quickly had their backs against the wall as the first two batters were retired on a ground out to second base and a strike out. Nate Van Roekel then jump started the rally with a single.
He then advanced to third on another hit by Jack Alley and later scored on a wild pitch that allowed Alley to move into scoring position. The game’s fate was then sealed with a game winning single by Landon Boysen that scored Alley and made the final tally 4-3.
“I was just focusing on getting on base and making runners advance,” Boysen said of his game winning trip to the plate. “As soon as Nate (Van Roekel) scored and Jack (Alley) came around to third I just focused on getting the ball into play. He (the Faribault pitcher) threw a fast ball on the outer half and I just ripped it.”
The evening opened in top fashion for Dundas as Seth Thompson started the game with a lead off home run to center field that gave the Dukes a 1-0 lead.
Carter Giesen, who played prep ball at Farmington High School in 2023-24 and recently joined the Dukes’ roster, then pitched four shutout innings of baseball that included five strikeouts and just one hit allowed before being relieved in the fifth inning by Luke Reisig.
After the first inning homer by Thompson, Faribault’s Hudson Dillon also turned in an impressive pitching peformance for the Lakers. He held the Dukes scoreless through the next five innings and struckout three batters during that time. Dillion was relieved in the seventh inning with one out by Porter Sartor, who ended up being the pitcher of record for Faribault.
On offense, Faribault managed to tie the contest in the top of the fifth inning. The Lakers’ Austin Rendler opened the inning with a double. A walk by Faribault’s Dylan O’Neil put runners at first and second for Jack Jandro, who put the ball into play with a fielder’s choice that created a forceout at second base. The play allowed Rendler to score and Jandro beat the double play attempt at first to keep the inning alive.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Dundas tied the game at 2-2 as Thompson opened the seventh inning with a walk. He then advanced to third on a single by Carson Jones and later scored with a sacrfice fly to right field by Alley.
In the top of the eighth, Faribault regained the upper hand as Drew Conrad advanced from first on a hit to right field by Joey Grote. A Dundas fielding error on the play in the outfield then allowed Conrad to score from first to give the Lakers a 3-2 lead.
With two outs, Faribault’s Nate Rost singled with a hard shot down the third base line. On the putout attempt at first, the throw went wide and that allowed Grote to score from second and push the Faribault lead to 4-2 and set the stage for the Dundas comeback in the ninth inning.
Sawyer Hoffman ended up earning the victory for Dundas with three innings of relief work that included four strikeouts. At the plate, Dundas was led by Van Roekel with three hits and Thompson with the home run and two runs scored. Overall, Dundas had 13 hits in the game and Faribault had seven. The Lakers’ Rendler led his team with two hits and one run.
Faribault is slated to return to action on Wednesday, July 24 with a game at St. Patrick before the Lakers return to Bell Field on Saturday, July 27 for a 1 p.m. game against Prior Lake and on Sunday, July 28 for a 2 p.m. match against Union Hill.
The Dukes will host the New Market Muskies on Friday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m. and then continued their homestand against the Rochester Royals on Sunday, July 21 at 2 p.m. and the St. Patrick Irish on Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m.
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