Baseball at Chuck Fuller Field in Owatonna resumed after the field was unplayable for many days due to standing water. Owatonna VFW had to postpone two of its games over the weekend.
The 10th-grade team played host to Cannon Falls VFW Post 4452’s team on Wednesday, June 26. Owatonna won the game, and at one point held a commanding eight-run lead.
Jace Ulrich got the start on the mound for Owatonna and pitched three innings. He got into trouble with one out in the top of the first and runners on first and second base, but a flyout and a lineout ended Cannon Falls’ hopes to take an early advantage.
Owatonna also had runners on first and second after a single to left field by Aedan Tackman and a walk by Will Radel. The pitcher Jace Ulrich batted cleanup and hit a liner down the left field line that could’ve easily scored Tackman, but it was just foul. Ulrich ended up hitting a line drive right to the Cannon Falls’ second baseman, who threw to the first baseman to catch Radel out for the double play to end the inning.
Owatonna’s first baseman Amilio Garza hit a double to deep center in the bottom half of the second after Ulrich had a 5-pitch inning in the first half of the inning. Owatonna was unable to capitalize on Garza’s one out double, with the teams going through two innings without a score.
Ulrich once again pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the third and also contributed to Owatonna’s offense in a huge way. With runners on second and third with one out in the bottom half of the third, a wild pitch in Ulrich’s at-bat scored Grayson Campion. Ulrich then hit a double to score Bently Arvig, who was at third after the wild pitch to give Owatonna a 2-0 lead.
Will Radel came into pitch for Owatonna, replacing Ulrich. Radelstruck out two Cannon Falls batters in the inning after the first batter reached base on an error.
Owatonna added two runs in the fourth after Cannon Falls brought in a new pitcher due to two hit-by-pitches and two walks. The 4-0 lead for Owatonna then became an 8-0 lead in the fifth as Owatonna scored four runs. Hit-by-pitches once again plagued Cannon Falls as well as an error, with the only hit of the inning being a double by AJ Arturo.
Will Radel went out to pitch the sixth inning after pitching two scoreless innings, but gave up two runs due to hit-by-pitches, wild pitches, and a walk. Aedan Tackman came into the game to pitch with two outs in the inning, and successfully closed the inning out with a groundout.
Tackman continued to pitch in the seventh, with the inning beginning with a amazing play by first baseman Christian Flores, who stretched out for a grab after a grounder to shortstop. Another groundout led to Tackman having the Cannon Falls down to their final strike, but the next four batters got on base, cutting Owatonna’s lead to four.
With runners on first and second, Tackman pitched the Cannon Falls batter to a full count and a groundout to second base ended the game, with Owatonna winning 8-4.
The win puts Owatonna’s VFW (which includes the combined record of the VFW 9 and VFW 10 teams) to 12-5 on the season, with Cannon Falls falling to 2-6. The Owatonna mix VFW team travels to New Ulm this weekend for the Junior Midwest Classic tournament before playing a double header in Rochester against Century on Monday, July 8.
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