Sunday was a gorgeous day for a baseball game, and an even better one for an afternoon doubleheader.
The Owatonna Aces took on the Winona Chiefs in two games. The Aces had a rough start, but the afternoon matchups ended with a split.
Matt Seykora was the starting pitcher for the Aces in the first game. The Chiefs were able to pull ahead 7-0 in the top of the first, due to costly errors by the Aces and clutch hits by the Chiefs.
The Aces had an opportunity to get some of the runs back in the bottom half of the first with the bases loaded with no outs, and they did just that. AJ Vandereide singled to left field to score two runners and Teagun Ahrens doubled to score two more to cut the Chiefs lead to just three.
It wasn't until the Aces' eighth batter until they got their first out of the inning. The second out of the inning came from a sacrifice fly to left field by Chris Homuth to make the score 7-5.
In the top of the second, the Chiefs looked like they were going to continue their offensive dominance, as the leadoff hitter in the inning had a single to right off of a near grab by the second baseman Jacob Meiners. But a double play ended the Chiefs' chances and the score remained 7-5 until the fourth inning.
A double by Matt Seykora scored Mitch Seykora who was at second base after stealing. The Aces also scored in the sixth inning off of a wild pitch to tie the game up at 7
Matt Seykora, after giving up seven runs to the Chiefs in the first inning, settled down and pitched a scoreless five full innings.He pitched in the seventh inning, but Kodey Kiel came to relieve him after he gave up a walk and a single with one out to start the inning. Kiel struck out the remaining two batters in the inning to give the Aces a good chance to walk it off.
The bottom half of the seventh started off with a hit-by-pitch to the pitcher Kiel, and a double by AJ Vandereide put runners in scoring position. Teagun Ahrens then hit the ball deep to center field to score Kiel, having the Aces win the game in the seventh. While Twin Rivers League games usually go to nine innings, both games on Sunday went to only seven due to the teams playing in a doubleheader.
Vandereide and Ahrens had big games for the Aces, as Vanderiede had two hits and two runs batted in and Ahrens had three hits with three runs batted in. While the Aces had four errors to the Chiefs two, they outhit the Chiefs 11-10 in the 8-7 victory.
The second game in the double header was more of a defensive battle, as both teams were able to score runs in only one inning. The Chiefs were the first to score as they scored three in the third, while the Aces scored one in the fifth with Johnny White scoring off of a single by Mitch Seykora, who was the pitcher.
Seykora pitched the entire game for the Aces, with striking out the side in the seventh to give the Aces an opportunity to tie the game up in the bottom half of the inning. But the Aces were unable to do so as they lost the second game to Winona 3-1.
The only error of the game came off of a bad throw by the Chiefs on a steal attempt, but the Chiefs outscored the Aces 9-6. The Aces are set to take on the Waseca Braves at home on Wednesday night. Game time is at 7:30 p.m. at Chuck Fuller Field.
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