Sartell baseball records 2nd straight shutout with 9-0 win over St. Cloud

Sartell’s Steven Brinkerhoff slid into second base on a steal attempt. He took advantage of a mistake and slid into third base. As he got up on third base, he clapped his hands and yelled in excitement.

Brinkerhoff had plenty to celebrate on Thursday as the Sabres won 9-0 over St. Cloud. The senior slugger contributed plenty on Thursday with a two-run double as well as another RBI later in the game.

Along with a 9-0 win, Sartell improved to a 2-0 record this week after a 12-0 win on Tuesday.

“This was a great win for us and it's nice to see everything coming together at the halfway point of the season," said Sartell's head coach Jerome Nemanich. "The bats have been strong all the way through our lineup, our defense has made some plays to prevent big innings and our pitching has been consistently strong. We just want to continue this for the next couple of weeks before sections."

Tory Lund has been efficient on the mound this season for the Sabres, but had close losses with low-scoring games.

Fortunately, for Lund and the Sabres, the bats continued their hot streak from Tuesday and came out with a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

The starting pitcher gained some confidence knowing he had a strong lead after one inning. That confidence has been building all season and started the game with 1-2-3 innings in the first and second inning.

After those innings, he allowed two hits and three walks in seven innings to capture the complete game shutout. He pitched out of jams, especially in the seventh inning.

"[Lund] has been a pitcher we rely on this season," Nemanich said. "He's been consistent with his pitches and has kept us in some close games."

On the offensive end, the Sabres have found its stride at the halfway point of the season. Early on, Sartell played some close games against top teams in the conference as well as big section opponents.

Some of these earlier games came out with losses, but Nemanich said the players learned a lot about themselves individually as well as a team. They took that knowledge and kept applying it to future practices and games.

"We just want to get better each day whether it's a practice or a game," Nemanich said. "These players have been taking away different things in each game and you can see that growth. Now, they hit a good stride and we just want to keep growing from here."

Over these last two games, Sartell has outscored its opponents 21-0 and those runs have come from every player in the lineup. The Sabres have a deep lineup with players that can get on base and drive in runs from one through nine.

On Thursday, six of the nine starting players recorded a hit and drove in at least one run. Brinkerhoff and Blake Haus drove in the first three runs with a double each, while Carsen Gross followed with an RBI single.

Austin Henrichs drove in two runs, while Calen O'Connell and Brinkerhoff each had an RBI later in the game. Even Lund helped himself out with an RBI in the late innings.

"It's great to see the bats going all the way through the lineup and there's a good balance between offense, defense and pitching," Nemanich said. "We just need to continue this balance for upcoming weeks."

Sartell, along with almost every baseball team in Minnesota, will face some challenges as the Sabres play make-up games from earlier in the season. Sartell will play at Bemidji at 4:30 p.m. Friday to conclude this week.

Then, the Sabres have three games next week and three games the following week to conclude the regular season. The big question will be pitching as Sartell has faced some injuries in the pitching department.

Nemanich will continue to rely on Lund and Wesley Johnson who have shown consistency all season. He will need some other pitchers like Jalen Vorpahl and Alex Wenshau to control some innings in the coming weeks.

"We have a lot of games coming up in the next couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing how we prepare for sections both on offense and on the mound," Nemanich said. "We have some great competition coming up and it'll only prepare us more for the section tournament at the end of the month."

Sartell will face off against Becker and St. Michael-Albertville at home next week along with a road game at ROCORI. All three teams are strong opponents and the Sabres will focus on each game one at a time.

St. Cloud will have four games next week followed by two games the following week to conclude the season. The Crush has home games against Willmar, Brainerd and Fergus Falls along with a road game at Moorhead. The next game for St. Cloud will be at Moorhead at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

"I thought we came out pretty flat today after playing pretty well on Tuesday against ROCORI," said St. Cloud's head coach Steve Taylor. "I thought Truman Toenjes kept us in the game for a few innings. We didn't do much at the plate to close the gap.

"Sartell has a really nice team and we need to be on top of our game to compete with teams like Sartell."

Brian Mozey is the high school sports reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-255-8772 or bmozey@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianMozey.

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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Sartell baseball has 2nd straight shutout with 9-0 win over St. Cloud