Baseball roundup: Willmar Cardinals make it 4 out of 5

May 23—BIG LAKE — The Willmar baseball team is picking things up just at the right time.

The Cardinals won their fourth game in five tries by beating Big Lake 4-3 Tuesday night.

Willmar (5-12) scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to beat the Hornets in the non-conference game.

Jaxxon Sjoberg led the Cardinals offensively, going 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and a run. Dylan Staska was 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI, Mason Thole went 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs and Jordan Ellingson was 1-for-1 with two walks, a stolen base and an RBI for Willmar.

Ellingson also got the pitching win, going the final two innings. Cullen Gregory went the first five, striking out six, walking five and allowing five hits and one earned run.

Willmar plays Rocori at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Swanson Field in Willmar.

Willmar 100 001 2-4 5 0

Big Lake 000 102 0-3 9 4

Hitting — Willmar: Tyler Madsen 0-4 r, Jaxxon Sjoberg 2-4 2b r sb, Cullen Gregory 0-3 r bb, Dylan Staska 1-2 rbi bb-2, Mason Thole 1-3 rbi-2 bb, Jordan Ellingson 1-1 rbi bb-2 sb ... Big Lake: Nolan Reiter 2-4 2b 3b rbi, Isaiah Terlinden 1-2 2b, Keenan Hjermstad 1-3 bb, Jeffery Wanhala 1-1, Conner Stern 1-3 2b r bb sb, Connor Stukenholtz 1-2 r, Jaxyn Tschritter 2-2 2b r rbi-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Willmar: Gregory 5-5-1-1-5-6, Ellingson (W) 2-4-2-2-1-4 ... Big Lake: Terlinden 5.2-2-2-1-6-9, Wanhala (L) 1-2-2-2-1-2, Hjermstad 0.1-1-0-0-1-1

Griffin Epema was 3-for-4 with a double, three runs, an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases in Montevideo's victory over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City at Kingery Field in Atwater.

Jaxon Drange-Leyendecker, Terrell Renne, Jonas Morrison and Isaiah Renne all had two hits for ACGC.

Montevideo 000 252 3-12 11 5

ACGC 300 003 2-8 9 2

Hitting — Montevideo: Cooper Dack 1-4 r rbi 3b bb sb-2, Griffin Epema 3-4 r-3 rbi bb 2b sb-2, Brady Snell 1-3 r rbi bb-2 2b, Gannon Reidinger 1-4 rbi-3 sb, Ben Gunlogson 0-1 r-2, Jackson Baldwin 2-3 r-2 rbi sb-3, Brody Dack 0-0 r bb sb, Daniel Gunlogson 2-4 r rbi-2 sb-2, Ethan Moravetz 1-2 r rbi bb sb-2 ... ACGC: Jaxon Drange-Leyendecker 2-3 r rbi-2 bb-2, Keegan Kessler-Gross 0-4 r bb, Terrell Renne 2-4 rbi sb, Jonas Morrison 2-4 r-2 rbi, Tucker Johnson 0-3 r-2 bb, Isaiah Renne 2-4 rbi-2 2b sb, Marcus Forsythe 0-0 r, Eric Fester 0-2 r bb, Regan Elton 1-3 bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Montevideo: Reidinger (W) 4-3-3-1-1-7, Snell 2.2-6-5-2-5-4, Epema 0.1-5-0-0-0-1 ... ACGC: Johnson (L) 4.1-7-7-6-5-4, T. Renne 1.2-1-2-1-1-2, Morrison 1-3-3-3-0-0

Long Prairie-Grey Eagle held Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa to four hits at Long Prairie.

Ethan Mueller went 2-for-4 with a double to lead the Jaguars.

BBE 000 000 0-0 4 4

LPGE 200 020 x-4 9 4

Hitting — BBE: Tate DeKok 1-4, Tanner Shelton 1-4, Ethan Mueller 2-4 2b, Casey Lenarz 0-1 bb sb, Luke Illies 0-1 bb-2 sb ... LPGE: Tye Urman 2-4 r-2, B. Mitzel 0-3 r rbi bb, Korbin Lowe 1-4 rbi, Salvador Orozco 2-3 rbi, Kris Hanson 1-3, C. Park 3-3 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — BBE: Hayden Sobiech (L) 5-8-4-2-1-6, Brett DeRoo 1-1-0-0-0-2 ... LPGE: Park (W) 7-4-0-0-3-4

Benson swept Hillcrest Lutheran Academy of Fergus Falls at Benson.

In Game 1, AJ Klassen went 2-for-2 with a double, a run and a hit-by-pitch for the Braves. Alex Clausen got the complete-game pitching win, striking out seven and walking one. He allowed four hits and one earned run.

In Game 2, Klassen went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a run and three RBIs. Garrett Lenz was 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Reece Larson was 2-for-3 with two doubles, two runs, two RBIs, two walks and a stolen base.

Benson 903 04-16 9 1

Hillcrest Lutheran 203 60-11 9 6

Hitting — Benson: Max Nygaard 0-2 r-3 bb-3 sb-2, Grant Gunlogson 1-4 2b r-2 rbi-3 bb, Reece Larson 2-3 2b-2 r-2 rbi-2 bb-2 sb, Alex Clausen 0-1 r-3 bb-2 hbp, Garrett Lenz 2-3 r-2 rbi-2 bb, AJ Klassen 2-3 2b-2 r rbi-3 sf, Jack Storlien 0-2 r bb-2 sb, Noah Goossen 1-3 r rbi bb, Zach Wrobleski 1-2 r bb... Hillcrest Lutheran: Jonathan Wutka 2-4 r rbi, Evan Lindgren 3-3 2b r-3 bb, Ethan Swedberg 0-0 r-3 bb-2, Micah Bermel 1-2 r-2 rbi-3 bb, Trey Swedenburg 1-3 rbi-2 hbp, Nathan Bermel 1-3 r rbi-4, Daniel Reisch 1-2 rbi bb, Levi Christensen 0-1 r bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Benson: Storlien (W) 3.1-8-11-10-6-6, Lenz 1.2-1-0-0-0-4 ... Hillcrest Lutheran: N. Bermel 1-4-9-3-5-2, Swedenburg (L) 3.1-4-7-4-6-4, Joseph Torgerson 0.2-1-0-0-2-0

Hillcrest Lutheran 012 000 0-3 4 3

Benson 140 001 x-6 7 2

Hitting — Hillcrest Lutheran: Jonathan Wutka 2-3 r rbi, Micah Bermel 0-3 r, Griffin Haus 1-1, Daniel Reisch 1-3 rbi, Joseph Torgerson 0-2 r hbp ... Benson: Max Nygaard 1-2 r-2 rbi bb-2 sb, Grant Gunlogson 0-2 rbi hbp, Reece Larson 1-3 rbi-2 sf sb-2, Garrett Lenz 1-2 r bb-2, AJ Klassen 2-2 2b r hbp, Jack Storlien 1-2 r rbi sb, Mason Moe 0-2 r bb, Zach Wrobleski 1-3 sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Hillcrest Lutheran: Bermel (L) 5-7-5-1-4-2, Luke McGuire 1-0-1-1-2-0 ... Benson: Alex Claussen (W) 7-4-3-1-1-7

Jaiden Henjum and Jared Cortez combined on a seven-hitter to lead Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg to the victory at Sunburg.

Henjum struck out eight and walked no one in six innings, allowing seven hits.

Luke Jeseritz was 4-for-4 with two doubles, a run and four RBIs for the Fighting Saints.

Border West 000 000 0-0 7 3

KMS 002 202 x-6 8 2

Hitting — Border West: B Nachbor 1-3 bb sb, M Tolifson 1-3, K Casper 1-3, C Spilde 2-3, J Volker 2-3 2b ... KMS: Isaac Rudningen 1-3 r-3 bb, Luke Jeseritz 4-4 r rbi-4 2b-2, Jared Cortez 0-3 bb sb, Jaiden Henjum 1-4 rbi-2, Evan Zimmer 0-1 bb, Chase Magaard 1-3, Logan Rudningen 1-2 r bb, Jacob Walsh 0-0 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Border West: Volker (L) 3.1-6-4-3-4-5, E Larson 2.2-2-2-2-0-1 ... KMS: Henjum (W) 6-7-0-0-0-8, Cortez 1-0-0-0-1-1

Carter Rice was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI in Renville County West's victory over Red Rock Central at the Irish Yard in Milroy.

Rice also got the pitching win, going 6- 2/3 innings. He struck out seven, walked three and allowed five hits and one earned run. Austin Rice got the save by getting the final out with RRC threatening.

RCW 100 210 0-4 7 1

RRC 001 000 1-2 6 0

Hitting — RCW: Griffin Howard 1-4 r sb, Isaac Haen 0-3 r bb, Carter Rice 3-3 rbi 2b, Trevor Peterson 0-2 r rbi bb, Austin Rice 1-2 r bb, Eddie Morales 0-2 bb, Zac Gustafson 2-3 rbi ... RRC: Jake Jackson 1-3 bb, Dan Kleven 2-3 rbi bb sb, Ashton Juhnke 1-4, Isaac Simonson 1-3, Hudson Jenniges 0-2 bb, Keaton Skarupa 0-2 bb, Quntin Vold 1-2 r-2 bb sb-2, Jayden Lang 0-2 bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — RCW: Carter Rice (W) 6.2-5-1-1-3-7, Brenden Peterson 0-1-1-1-3-0, Austin Rice (Sv) 0.1-0-0-0-0-0 ... RRC: Juhnke (L) 3-3-1-1-2-4, Jenniges 2-4-3-3-2-5, Vold 2-0-0-0-0-6

A three-run fourth inning propelled Redwood Valley past Yellow Medicine East at Redwood Falls.

For YME, Bryce Sneller was 2-for-4 with a double and Drew Almich was 2-for-2 with three RBIs.

Ethan Louwagie went the final five innings for the win for the Cardinals. He struck out 11, walked no one and allowed four hits.

YME 120 000 0-3 8 2

Redwood Valley 000 310 x-4 7 0

Hitting — YME: Cody Dahlager 1-1 r-2 bb sb sb, Andrew Flaten 1-2, Drew Almich 2-2 rbi-3, Bryce Sneller 2-4 2b, Landon Anderson 1-2, Connor Fagen 1-1, Owen Torvik 0-2 r ... Redwood Valley: Austin Gunderson 0-2 bb, Ethan Louwagie 1-3 rbi-2 bb, Brandon Lang 1-3 sb, Riley Dikken 1-3 r, Maxwell Fuhr 1-3, Tyson Irlbeck 1-3 sb, Emery Berg 1-2 r rbi bb 2b, Santiago Gomertiaz 0-2 r, Jacob Hildebrandt 1-2 r rbi sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — YME: Nick Moritz (L) 4.1-7-4-4-3-5, Sneller 1.2-0-0-0-0-3 ... Redwood Valley: Lukas Means 2-4-3-3-1-1, Louwagie 5-4-0-0-0-11

New London-Spicer's Gavin Degner hit 3-for-3 with two RBIs, one run and a stolen base to help lift the Wildcats over Litchfield at Optimist Park in Litchfield.

Litchfield's Connor Taber and Cam Baalson and NLS' Luke Knudsen and Bennett Schultz each had a pair of hits.

Litchfield begins Section 5AA tournament play on Thursday and NLS starts Section 3AA-North tournament action on Saturday. The brackets have yet to be released.

NLS 200 200 3-7 9 2

Litchfield 200 010 0-3 7 4

Hitting — NLS: Aedan Andresen 0-3 r bb, Luke Knudsen 2-4 r-2 rbi sb, Bennett Schultz 2-4 rbi, Chi Schneider 1-4 r rbi, Carson McCain 1-2 rbi, Riley Lessman 0-2 r bb, Brayden Skindelien 0-3 r, Gavin Degner 3-3 r rbi-2 sb ... Litchfield: Jack McCann 1-3 bb 2b, Calvin Jones 1-4 r, Caden Besemer 1-4 r-2 sb, Connor Taber 2-3 rbi-3 bb 2b-2, Cam Baalson 2-3, Francisco Castellon 0-1 bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — NLS: Konnor Rohloff 3-4-2-1-1-3, Reid Holmquist (W) 3-3-1-1-1-2, Gabe Rohman 1-0-0-0-0-1-1 ... Litchfield: Bradley Larson (L) 2-4-2-1-0-3, Owen Carlson 2-2-2-0-1-3, Hunter Schultz 2.1-3-3-2-1-3, Jones 0.2-0-0-0-0-1

Minnewaska earned a pair of wins against Morris/Chokio-Alberta at Glenwood.

PJ Johnson and Alex Panitzke earned wins on the mound for the Lakers.

Minnewaska begins Section 3AA-North play on Saturday. The bracket is yet to be released.

Minnewaska 220 000 0-4 7 0

Morris/CA 000 200 0-2 5 2

Hitting — Minnewaska: Alex Panitzke 1-3, Dylan Alexander 1-2 r, Noah Jensen 2-3 r rbi-2 hr, Austin Weber 0-2 r sb, Levi Johnson 1-3, Austin Ballhagen 2-3 r rbi 3b, Conner Erickson 0-1 rbi ... Morris/CA: Kyle Fehr 1-2 r bb sb, Trevor Buss 1-3 r, Johnny Kleindl 1-2, Owen Anderson 2-3 r-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Minnewaska: Panitzke (W) 7-5-2-2-1-7 ... Morris/CA: Alex Asmus (L) 6-6-4-3-0-3, Dan Travis 1-1-0-0-0-2

Morris/CA 100 000 0-1 5 2

Minnewaska 000 122 x-5 6 1

Hitting — Morris/CA: Riley Asmus 1-3 r sb-3, Ozzy Jerome 1-2 bb sb, Trevor Buss 2-3, Johnny Kleindl 1-3 ... Minnewaska: Jack Majerus 1-4 rbi sb, Alex Panitzke 1-4 r sb, Dylan Alexander 2-3 r rbi sb, Noah Jensen 1-2 rbi, PJ Johnson 0-2 rbi, Austin Weber 0-2 bb sb, Levi Johnson 0-1 r bb-2 sb-2, Austin Ballhagen 1-3 r sb, Thomas Puegel 0-2 r bb sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Morris/CA: Drew Storck 3-1-0-0-0-5, Landen Gibson (L) 2-3-3-2-2-3, Jackson Hallman 1-2-2-1-2-1 ... Minnewaska: PJ Johnson (W) 6-5-1-0-2-7, L. Johnson 1-0-0-0-0-0

Esau Nelson tossed a three-hit shutout over seven innings in Game 2 and Spencer Eisenbraun was 2-for-2 with a double in Game to help host Paynesville sweep Holdingford.

Nelson struck out three and walked no one. Grayson Fuchs went 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBIs, a double and a stolen base in Game 2. Isaac Lieser was 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI and Eisenbraun was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Josah Utsch also was 2-for-3 for Paynesville.

Paynesville 101 301 5-11 15 0

Holdingford 000 000 0-0 3 2

Hitting — Paynesville: Grayson Fuchs 3-5 r-2 rbi-2 2b sb, Max Athmann 1-3 rbi sac bb, Isaac Lieser 2-4 r rbi 2b, Reed Johnson 0-0 bb, Austin Pauls 1-4 rbi sf, Spencer Eisenbraun 2-3 rbi, Abe Brunner 0-1 r bb, Josiah Utsch 2-3, Brandon Hess 0-1 r, Bryce Vanderbeek 1-3 r hbp, Brandon Carlson 1-1 r rbi, Esau Nelson 1-3 r-2 rbi-2 2b bb, Brayden VanderBeek 1-2 r-2 ... Holdingford: Dominic Hoikka 1-2 hbp, Luke Bieniek 0-2 hbp, Dierks Opatz 1-3, Mason Patrick 1-2Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Paynesville: Nelson (W) 7-3-0-0-0-3 ... Holdingford: n/a

Holdingford 000 000 1-1 5 2

Paynesville 120 000 x-3 3 2

Hitting — Holdingford: Drew Lange 1-4, Dominic Hoikka 2-3, Luke Bieniek 1-4 rbi, Chase Lyon 1-2, Mason Patrick 0-2 r ... Paynesville: Grayson Fuchs 1-4 r rbi, Max Athmann 0-3 r, Spencer Eisenbraun 2-2 2b, Josiah Utsch 0-1 rbi, Abe Brunner 0-2 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Holdingford: Gavin Johnson (L) 3-1-3-2-5-1, Hoikka 3-2-0-0-1-3 ... Paynesville: Utsch (W) 5.2-3-0-0-4-4, Fuchs (Sv) 1.1-2-1-1-0-2

Parker Bradley went 3-for-4 with a double, a pair of RBIs and a run to help Minneota defeat Central Minnesota Christian School at Prinsburg.

Ethan Bulthuis led the Bluejays at the plate with two hits. He went 2-for-5 with a triple, two runs, an RBI and a stolen base.

CMCS begins Section 3A-North play on Saturday. The bracket is yet to be released.

Minneota 001 301 004-9 9 3

CMCS 100 040 000-5 5 5

Hitting — Minneota: Peyton Gillund 2-6 r-2 2b, Jackson Lacek 0-2 r bb-2 sb, Isaac Pohlen 1-4 r-2 rbi-3 sb, Ryan Dalager 0-3 r bb, Eli Gruenes 1-5 r, Brody Larson 1-5 r rbi-2 sb, Adam Dalager 1-3, Parker Bradley 3-4 r rbi-2 2b ... CMCS: Ethan Bulthuis 2-5 r-2 rbi 3b sb, J Nelson 1-4 r rbi, B Ryks 0-2 bb, P Meyer 1-3 bb, J Veer Steeg 0-3 r bb sb, Braelin Rime 1-3 r bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Minneota: Larson 3-2-1-1-1-3, Ryan Meagher 1-0-0-0-1-1, Bradley 0-0-2-2-2-0, Gillund (W) 5-3-2-0-0-4 ... CMCS: Bulthuis 4-4-4-1-3-3, Fussy (L) 5-5-5-2-1-4

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton got a pair of hits from Aiden and Cody Wichmann en route to a victory over Lac qui Parle Valley at Madison.

Dyllon Geiser and Kaden Modlen had two hits each for the Eagles. Geiser was 2-for-4 with a double and Molden hit 2-for-4.

LQPV (6-7, 6-6) begins Section 3A-North play on Saturday. The bracket is yet to be determined.

RTR 004 121 0-8 11 2

LQPV 000 030 0-3 7 5

Hitting — RTR: Aiden Wichmann 2-5 r-2 rbi 2b sb-2, Chase Christianson 1-4 r sac, Cody Wichmann 2-3 r 2b bb-2, Blake Christianson 1-4 r-2 rbi-2, Hayden Gravley 1-5 r rbi, Kyler Wichmann 1-3 r, Isaac Dagel 2-3 r bb rbi ... LQPV: Dylan Keimig 1-3 r rbi, Dyllon Geiser 2-4 2b rbi-2, Kaden Molden 2-4, Landon Weber 2-3 r, Joseph Ramsbacher 0-2 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — RTR: C. Wichmann (W) 6-6-3-0-1-10, Gravely 1-1-0-0-1-2 ... LQPV: Geiser (L) 3-6-4-3-2-4, Ramsbacher 2-4-3-1-0-1, Brock Bjornjeld 2-1-1-0-2-1