VIRGINIA—The Rock Ridge baseball team built up an 11-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and managed to hold off a late surge from Deer River in order to pick up an 11-6 win at Frandsen Bank & Trust Field Wednesday.
The home team on the scoreboard due to the game being moved from Deer River to Virginia, the Wolverines came to bat and put up four runs in the top of the first inning. They’d tack on more runs in the second, fifth, sixth and seventh before leading 11-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
After some pitching struggles and some defensive miscues from Rock Ridge, Deer River changed the face of the game and made it 11-6 before Joe Aho came in to pitch, grabbing the last two outs with ease.
“Overall, the kids did well,” Rock Ridge head coach Jamie Lindseth said. “We pitched, I thought really well but we got caught sleeping in the seventh and our pitching didn’t have a lot of help behind them. Throw in some walks and hit batters and before you know it, it’s 11-6.”
Tyler Reid got the start on the mound and the win for Rock Ridge, facing the minimum nine batters over three innings while striking out four. Isaac Lindhorst pitched the next three-plus innings, giving up two earned runs on one hit and a walk. He struck out five.
Harley Mott got the first out of the seventh inning, giving up three runs (one earned) on two walks. Aho grabbed the final two outs, giving up an unearned run off one hit.
At the plate, Sam Ray was 3-4 with two RBIs. Tate Uhan was 2-3 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. Lindhorst was 2-2 with four RBIs and Will Kemp was 1-3 with a double and a run scored.
“Aside from how we ended, I thought we played really well,” Lindseth said. “We ran the bases well, got some good hits. We only struck out twice the entire game so we were putting the ball in play. Our strength this year has been our pitching and the hitting and defense is coming along with it.”
Halfway through the regular season, Lindseth says it’s hard to gauge the team overall, especially in comparison to last year’s squad. With seven new starters on the field this season, things are coming along. The hope now is to get some consistency.
“We’re figuring out who we are and who we want to be,” Lindseth said. “The pitching is there but we want to be consistent baserunners and consistent on defense.. We’re finding all the right pieces and things are starting to take shape, but give us 7-10 more days and I think we really would have a solid lineup going forward.”
With so many new pieces filling the gaps all over the field, Lindseth says some dysfunction is to be expected.
“We’ve had a few games that we’d like back and we have some spots we’re still trying to figure out, but it’s to be expected with so many new starters. It’s one of those years that’s bound to happen and fortunately we haven’t had too many of them. Things are taking shape and the guys are competing much more than they were compared to the beginning of the season.”
The Wolverines return to action Friday when they host Moose Lake-Willow River.
Local News
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