Matthew Popp picks up two walk-off wins for Spartans in the same week
Richfield baseball ended the week with a second dramatic walk-off win this time on Friday by a 7-6 score against Park Center/Columbia Heights/Maranatha Academy after doing the same to Fridley on Tuesday 9-8, one day after losing to neighbor Bloomington Kennedy 5-4.
The Spartans (6-5) also came up short against Holy Angels 8-2 on May 8 at Donaldson Park in the Battle of the Tracks traveling trophy game between the two schools.
Matthew Popp came through in the clutch with a line drive single to right field allowing Derek Smith to score with one out in the eighth inning for the 7-6 win on Friday. It was the second hit of the evening for the starting second baseman as the decisive inning began with Nick Olson connecting with a lead-off single to center field.
Damon Blanch drove a hard grounder to right field and Jayden Anderson was hit by a pitch to load the bases at Spartan Field to set the table for Popp’s big play.
The back-and-forth game opened with the Pirates jumping to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning before Richfield responded with two runs in the second inning only to have the visitors extend the lead to 5-2 going through three innings. Richfield rallied for four runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead into the sixth inning.
Richfield used small-ball tactics to bring the first run around in the fifth inning as Popp reached on an error to begin the inning before Carter drew a four-pitch walk followed by a successful sac bunt by Connor Wolke which moved the runners into scoring position at second and third bases. Aidan Forpahl brought in Popp with a line drive single to left field.
Cole Nutting drew the second hit-by-pitch of the inning to reload the bases before Olson laced a two-run single down the right field line to plate Cason Carter and Forpahl to tie it up at 5-5 with one out. Nutting scored on a double steal with Olson swiping second base to take a 6-5 lead.
Park Center tied it up in the sixth inning with an RBI double off Anderson who struck out eight batters through five innings scattering four hits and one walk with six runs. Only two runs were earned by the Spartans ace.
Wolke took over after the Pirates tied the game in the sixth inning and retired the side in order including two huge strikeouts to end the inning.
Both teams made huge plays in the field, as each team only sent three batters to the plate for the bottom of the sixth, seventh and top of the eighth inning. Richfield sent five batters to the plate in the eighth inning to end the game for a Tri-Metro Conference win for the Spartans.
First walk-off
The 9-8 Tri-Metro win over Fridley on May 7 didn’t need extra innings to decide the winner as Popp laced a hard grounder past the shortstop to allow Miles Patt to score from second base for the deciding run.
Popp went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI and scored twice in the No. 2 spot in the order. Forpahl also picked up three hits, driving in one run as eight different Spartans recorded a hit. Doubles came from Danlad Kasim and Carter.
Richfield opened up a 7-1 lead after scoring three times in the third inning and another four times in the fourth inning.
Carter brought in Anderson and Popp with a double to left field with one out in the third inning before scoring on a Wolke ground out to build a 3-0 lead.
The success carried over in the fourth inning with leadoff singles from Nutting and Patt before Mark Davison drew a walk to load the bases. Nutting stole home before Anderson brought in Smith with a line drive to left field to make it 5-1. Popp followed with an RBI single before Wolke and Forpahl added back-to-back singles to plate Popp to take a 7-1 lead.
Drew Lankey worked the first 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight Tigers. He gave up seven runs on eight hits with two walks before sophomore Ian Stang pitched in relief. He struck out four batters over 1 2/3 innings to earn the win. He threw 22-of-31 pitches for strikes as Fridley had one unearned run on two hits.
Holy Angels went to Cole Cheeseman on the mound in their game on Wednesday from Donaldson Park. The Richfield native struck out seven Spartans over six innings scattering four hits and three walks.
Finn Sheeley led the Stars at the plate going 3-for-3 with a double, scoring three times. Souba, Ackerman and Gabrik each had two hits and Tyler James drove in a pair of runs.
Richfield opened with Carter on the mound before Wolke worked the final three innings. Wolke struck out two batters while allowing one run on three hits without issuing a walk.
Patt highlighted the Richfield bats going 2-for-3 with a double and scored once.
Kennedy (10-5) used a three-run fifth inning to get past Richfield 5-4 in the first Tri-Metro game of the week in Richfield on Monday.
The Spartans opened a 3-0 lead in the first inning starting with a dropped third strike allowing Popp to reach first base and Anderson to wheel home from third base. Popp scored on a single by Carter to right field and Carter successfully stole home with Olson at the plate to take a 3-0 lead.
Kennedy responded with a pair of runs in the second inning off the bat of freshman catcher Micah Feldman who smacked a one-out single back up the middle to bring in Mason Biermaiser and Manny Medina to cut the lead to 3-2.
Feldman began a three-run rally in the fifth inning by leading off with a hard-hit grounder to shortstop. He reached first base on an error and moved up on a successful sac bunt by Alejandro Lopez.
Freshman Jack Latourelle found daylight through the right side of the infield on another hard grounder to bring Feldman around to tie the game at 3-3. William Vogel drew a one-out walk to load the bases for Isaac Syrjamaki who connected on a line drive to center field to score Lopez and take a 4-3 lead. Biermaier’s pop fly to left field fell in for a hit allowing Lattourelle to score and take a 5-3 lead.
Richfield responded in the fifth inning with Popp’s single to right field bringing home Anderson to make it 5-4. Popp ended the inning, trying to extend his hit to second base as he was tagged out.
Going into the seventh inning, Richfield had Patt and Nutting reach on a walk and hit by pitch, respectively with two outs before Feldman ended the game with a successful throw down to second base to catch Nutting attempting to steal.
Most Popular
Comments / 0