Bloomington Senior Legion 2 searches for first win of the summer

Bloomington Senior 1 goes 2-2 at Fargo

Bloomington Post 550 Senior 2 closed out June with eight games in eight days and remains in search of its first win of the season.

Senior 2 began the busy week with a 12-5 loss to Richfield in Bloomington, tying the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third inning with one-out singles from Bennett Kunkel, Gabriel Huset and Jonah Kaluza. Richfield posted a six-run rally in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach despite pounding eight hits and drawing four walks to put runners on the bases against the Reds.

Losses against DeLaSalle (8-3 on June 25) and Tri-Metro (7-2 on June 27) led into the weekend tournament in Fargo, North Dakota, June 28-30.

Bloomington Senior 2 opened the Jim Pettersen FM Invitational with an 8-0 loss to Thief River Falls in five innings. Brady Pearson picked up the lone hit for Bloomington, and Kunkel had the lone walk.

Saturday opened with a 16-3 loss to Tri-City Red in five innings. Huset, Owen Carey, Mason Kaiser, Evan Keith and Max Meier accounted for the hits. Carey drove in Huset with a two-out fly ball to left field in the first inning to put Bloomington on the scoreboard, 3-1.

Fargo Post 400 Stars limited Bloomington to one hit in an 8-0 shutout over six innings to wrap up action on Saturday.

Keith smacked a two-out single to left field in the fifth inning after Ike Nolte drew an eight-pitch walk one batter earlier.

Bloomington wrapped up the tournament with a 23-3 loss in five innings to New Ulm Legion Gold on June 30.

Carey picked up two hits, while Kaiser and Paulino each had one. Kaiser added two stolen bases, scored twice and drew one walk. Kocur also drew a walk and came around to score.

Bloomington Senior 2 returned home to face Minneapolis Washburn on July 1, coming away with a 5-0 loss.

Bloomington picked up four hits among the top third of the batting order, including Huset and Kunkel, with one hit each before Carey went 2-for-3 for the No. 3 spot.

Kaluza went the distance on the mound, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits and three walks. He struck out three batters and needed 98 pitches to reach the end.

Bloomington Senior 1

Bloomington Senior 1 began the final week of June with a 2-0 loss to Richfield on June 23 before winning the next three of four games, leading into the Fargo tourney June 28-30.

Richfield scored twice in the bottom of the fifth inning for what proved to be the difference. Cole Nutting tripled on a fly ball to center field with two outs to bring in Sean Leino before Miles Patt laced an RBI single to center field.

Teagan Yotter and Nick Manning collected the lone hits for the third consecutive loss.

Mason Kobus took Bloomington’s loss on the mound, going five innings. He scattered seven hits on two runs with four strikeouts before Ethan Kleis worked the final inning of relief. He allowed one hit and two walks.

Bloomington found success with a pair of close wins over the next two days, starting with a 4-3 win at the Burnsville Cobras on June 24.

Trailing 3-1 going into the top of the seventh inning, Bloomington’s Will Vogel began a 3-run rally with a walk. Dylan Larson’s single, followed by two walks from Alex Malecha and Ryan Sheehan, made it a 3-2 ballgame. Sheehan’s bases-loaded walk scored Vogel. Larson successfully scored on a sac fly by John Taverna, who launched the second out of the inning to right field.

Manning, who was running for Malecha, scored on an error by the catcher to take a 4-3 lead with Simmons at the plate.

Bloomington pitcher TJ Frein worked out of a jam in the bottom half of the inning as the Cobras had a runner on third base with one out. Frein struck out the Burnsville batter for the second out before inducing a ground out. Larson scooped up the ball shortstop before firing it to Sheehan at first base to secure the win.

Larson and Sheehan each had two hits. Larson and Kleis each drew two walks, and Vogel scored twice from the leadoff spot in the order. Sheehan led Bloomington with two RBIs.

Yotter and Frein teamed up on the mound to strike out 10 Burnsville batters. Frein earned the win in two innings of relief work. He allowed two hits and one walk without giving up a run.

Bloomington traveled to Buffalo the next day for an 8-6 win over Post 270 in eight innings. There was plenty of offense as the teams combined 14 runs on 19 hits and 11 walks.

Vogel and Manning opened the extra innings with line drives to the outfield before Larson brought Vogel home with a grounder to left field. Manning was thrown out at home. Larson moved up to third base on a ground out by Malecha and scored on a wild pitch with Frein at the plate.

Vogel and Manning each had three hits, while Larson had the only multi-base hit, a double, as he went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and scored twice.

Connor Iverson and Mason Biermaier each had two hits.

Sheehan, Larson and Kleis combined on the mound for the win, credited to Kleis, who worked 1 1/3 innings without allowing a hit, run or walk. He did strike out one batter.

Bloomington played for the third time in as many days on June 26, welcoming St. Louis Park to Haddox field for South Hennepin League action.

The Railcats emerged with a 10-5 win in a game with big rallies. They scored four times in the third inning and again in the sixth inning.

Bloomington put together its four-run rally in the fourth inning, starting with a leadoff single by Manning before Larson and Malecha picked up walks to load the bases for Kleis. Kleis’ sacrafice fly to right field allowed Manning to score. Singles by Taverna and Simmons each brought in one run before Biermaier’s sac fly brought home Frein, who was pinch-running.

Bloomington returned to action in Fargo on Friday, June 28, with a 9-1 win over Harrisburg Legion Maroon.

Bloomington scored in five of six innings as the game went six innings, including a four-run fourth inning. Doubles by Malecha and Simmons combined with two hits from Iverson helped propel Bloomington to the tourney-opening win. They also scored ten walks as seven batters showed their patience in the batter’s box. Manning drew a pair of walks and scored once.

Kobus took the win on the mound, allowing one run on three hits over 3 2/3 innings before Vogel and Kleis worked in relief.

Vistas out of Minot, North Dakota, scored in the bottom of the first inning for what turned out to be the game’s lone run in the Saturday opener.

With runners on the corners and one out, Sheehan was called for a balk to advance the runners one base allowing the Vistas’ base runner to score from third. Bloomington catcher Jack Frein threw out a Vistas base runner trying to swipe third base before Sheehan struck out the batter to get out of the inning.

Iverson drew a walk in the second inning to become the first Bloomington base runner, and Nick Nyasende had the lone base hit coming with two outs in the third inning on a grounder past the second baseman.

Sheehan was dialed in on the mound, going 5 2/3 innings without allowing a hit or earned run. He walked seven and struck eight before Kleis picked up the final out with only two pitches needed to pick up Sheehan.

Bloomington found its offense in the day’s second game but couldn’t get past Moorhead Blues 6-4.

Sheehan legged out a triple in the second inning to score Larson, who opened the inning with a walk. Sheehan would score on a fielding error after Biermaier’s ground ball couldn’t be fielded cleanly to give Bloomington a 2-1 lead.

Moorhead responded with a pair of ferns in the third and again in the fourth innings.

Bloomington’s comeback attempt fell short despite Sheehan driving in Larson in the fifth inning to make it a 6-3 game before Vogel scored on a passed ball in the sixth inning to narrow the gap to 6-4.

Yotter and TJ Frein combined on the mound for Bloomington, taking the loss over five innings of work. He gave up five runs, one earned on five hits, two walks and four strikeouts. TJ Frein allowed one unearned run on two hits in one inning of work.

Bloomington rallied back on Sunday to defeat Watertown Post 17 7-2 to finish the tournament on a high note.

Kleis drove in a pair of runs with a double, while Biermaier had a pair of hits and drove in two. Manning drove in a pair of runs and scored twice in the leadoff spot. He also collected a walk.

TJ Frein allowed just one hit over four innings of shutout work to earn the win on the mound. He struck out six batters and issued three walks. Iverson earned the three-inning save, striking out three batters to secure the win.