Sometimes the common cliche, “It’s not over until it’s over,” can be hard to believe when things are looking bleak, like while you’re down one run in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and no runners on against one of your rivals.
But thanks to Ethan Armstrong, Tyler Sheehan, Mitch Seykora and Owen Beyer, the Owatonna Huskies have proof that it truly wasn’t over until a two-out, walk-off RBI single from Beyer made it officially over in a 6-5 victory over Northfield Tuesday.
“It feels good,” Beyer said. “We had two outs with base runners on. We had a few really good at bats right before me. I just got put into the position (to hit) and first pitch, I swung, and it was a good hit.”
It’s safe to say before Armstrong stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the seventh inning, things weren’t particularly looking up for the Huskies. Northfield had the momentum on its side after erasing a 4-1 deficit over the course of three innings and taking a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh.
On top of that, the Huskies were having trouble getting base hits as Northfield’s JT Graupmann helped the Raiders get one out away from handing them a loss on their home diamond.
Armstrong stepped into the batter’s box and battled to keep the Huskies alive. He drove the ball into the shallow outfielder. The Raiders attempted to snag the third and final out, but the ball ultimately dropped to give Owatonna its tying run on base.
Enter the speedy Tyler Sheehan, who took over the running for Armstrong and quickly found second base with a wild pitch. All the junior needed was a ball in play to tie the game up. Seykora was the one to deliver.
“I really tip my cap to Ethan, that bat kind of got away with him,” said Owatonna head coach Tate Cummins. “We were taking a pitch there and strike one right down the middle. Curveball, he swings right over the top of it and puts himself in a really tough spot along with my help. But he was able to fight off a couple pitches, lay off of them, then puts bat-on-ball and makes something happen.”
The senior third baseman hit a hard grounder to Northfield shortstop Jacob Geiger. After a very slight bobble, the throw to first was just off the mark and Seykora successfully reached first base safely.
While the play was happening, Owatonna head coach Tate Cummins was already waiving Sheehan home and the speedster flew around third to score the game-tying run with two outs still on the scoreboard.
Seykora went from trying to drive in the game-tying run to becoming the game-winning run after he stole second and managed to slide into third right before Tayte Berg drew a walk to put another runner on base and bring Beyer to the plate.
The message for Beyer was short and simple: Just find your pitch.
Well the first pitch looked good enough for the senior center fielder to swing at the ball and line it into left field for the walkoff single. Given everything it took to get to that moment with a victory over the rival, the win felt even sweeter.
“Coach told me, ‘Find your pitch,’” Beyer said. “I just saw the first pitch strike, and I’m swinging, I’m not waiting.”
Up until the seventh, the Huskies had found a way to stay a step ahead of the Raiders until Northfield’s late rally to take the lead.
Owatonna scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first and the Raiders responded with an RBI single from Kam Kaiser in the top of the third. An error on a throw to first following a Noah Truelson bunt in the bottom of the fourth helped bring in two runs for the Huskies. Add an RBI groundout from Connor Wiese and they held a 4-1 lead over their rivals.
Kaiser helped pull it within a run for Northfield by hitting a standup, RBI triple in the top of the fifth before scoring off an error to make it 4-3.
The Raiders were in a position to do some major damage with bases loaded and one out in the top of the sixth. Northfield tied it on an RBI single, but could drive in any more runs thanks to Seykora turning a double play by fielding the ball at third base and throwing the runner out at first.
Northfield’s lone lead of the game came from the classic runners on first and third with one out. A pickoff attempt and a pickle between first and second opened the door just enough for the Raiders to beat the throw home for a 5-4 lead over the Huskies, which didn’t last for too long as they entered the bottom of the inning.
“We tell the kids to be ready right away, especially with runners in scoring position, and [Beyer] was ready and jumped on it,” Cummins said. “We didn’t have many hits up until that point, so any way we can score, we’ll take it. But he had a great swing for a line drive over the shortstop’s head.”
The win improves Owatonna’s record to 10-4-1 overall as the Huskies fight for third place in the Big 9 Conference. They’ll travel to face Albert Lea on Thursday before closing out the week by hosting a non-conference game against Marshall on Friday.
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