Post 239 rebounds from Cloquet loss

HIBBING—After a lackluster performance on Monday against Cloquet, Post 239 coach Jamie Lindseth sat his team down and laid it all on the line—come ready to play.

Post 239 took those words to heart Wednesday, jumping out to a 3-0 lead, then they held on for a 6-4 victory over Hibbing in American Legion baseball action at Al Nyberg Field.

The game was a far cry from what Post 239 did against Cloquet.

“The best answer is that we were flat,” Lindseth said. “The kids played uninspired baseball, and that wasn’t the case today. They got the message, and they came to play. They spoke for themselves.

“This ends our week of play, so it was nice to go out with a win.”

Post 239 came out swinging in the first inning as Owen Hallin singled, but after he was forced out at second on a sacrifice-bunt attempt, Post 239 took advantage of two Post 222 errors to plate the first run of the game.

Harley Mott would take third on an errant pickoff attempt, then he scored when Sam Ray reached on another Hibbing error.

In the third inning, Post 239 added two more runs, with two out.

After two strikeouts, Griffin Dosen walked, then Tyler Reid doubled. Joey Aho singled home a run, then Will Kemp hit an RBI double.

“From top to bottom, I thought we had quality at bats,” Lindseth said. “We really made them work. Those are two of the better pitchers we may see all year (Dakota Kruse and Dane Mammenga). They’re nice kids, and that’s a nice club.

“We knew we weren’t going to come here without working hard to get out of here with a win. The kids worked hard. They ran the bases well. I thought they played defense well, but most importantly, it was the pitching and hitting that carried us today.”

Hibbing needed to respond and it did in the bottom of the third inning.

Beau Frider and Mammenga walked, then Noah Sundquist hit a two-run double. He took third on a groundout, and scored when Kody Birmes hit a sacrifice fly.

“We had a few errors, a few mistakes early on in the game,” Hibbing coach Logan Radovich said. “We made a nice push in the bottom of the third to tie it, then we gave it right back to them again. That was the story of the game.

“Their pitcher pitched well. He threw strikes. We just didn’t take the bat off of our shoulder.”

Post 222 was in a giving mood in the fourth as Post 239 retook the lead.

Three-straight walks to Bennett Simon, Hallin and Mott loaded the bases.

After a strikeout, Dosan walked to force home a run.

With Hibbing’s infield in, Reid hit a ground ball to short. The throw home sailed over the head of Post 222’s catcher and to the backstop, allowing two runs to score.

That, in essence, was the game.

“You get the three-run lead and that you ever get comfortable, but you’re thinking, ‘At this level, if we continue playing our game, they’re going to take some chances,’” Lindseth said. “They will have to work to catch up to us.

“We gave them three, but to come back and answer with three, that says a lot. That doesn’t always happen with kids. When you can answer like that, that’s huge. That’s what I was looking for, coming back with a little edge. We had quality at bats.”

Hibbing had runners on in every inning, but they would leave nine runners on base because of the pitching of Aho and Dosan.

Aho worked five innings, allowing four hits. He struck out six and walked four. Dosen gave up one hit in two innings. He fanned four and walked two.

“I thought the kids pitched well,” Lindseth said. “Joey had the best outing he’s had all year on the mound from spring season through. I’m glad he came out this summer. It’s serving him well at the plate, and he pitched well.

“He’s also our starting shortstop. He’s done well.”

Hibbing had a chance in the seventh as Sundquist and Kruse both walked, but Dosen struck out two and got a lineout to end the game.

“You have to throw strikes, you need to swing at strikes, which will improve your odds, and you need to take care of the baseball,” Lindseth said. “When you do those, I don’t care who you’re playing, you have a good chance.

“We had a couple that we gave back as well that, thankfully, didn’t hurt us.”

Hibbing didn’t take advantage of its opportunities.\

“In any game, you don’t want that,” Radovich said. “With only five hits as well, that doesn’t help the cause either. The story for us offensively is leaving runners in scoring position.

“We can’t get that last hit to get some runners home. We had too many bats sitting on our shoulders. That was the big thing today. We’re going to keep stressing that and the importance of it from here on out.”

Kruse tossed four innings, allowing five hits. He struck out seven and walked six. Mammenga tossed three innings, giving up three hits. He fanned three.