By Mark Zinnel, Buttermaker Reporter
Hadley kept their current winning streak going as they captured all 3 games during the week. Here is the week’s games recap:
Wednesday vs. Mountain Lake: HADLEY 4, MOUNTAIN LAKE 3
The Buttermakers traveled to St. James on Wednesday to take on a young, Mountain Lake Laker squad that was hoping to pull off big victory and put a damper on the Buttermaker’s Gopher League standing as the regular season heads towards the finish. The feisty Laker almost pulled it off as they battled the Buttermakers to the end in a hard, fought game.
Hadley was short on pitching for the night so veteran, Trent Carlson was given the starting assignment for Hadley. Both teams would put their lead-off batters on base in the 1st inning, but neither team was unable to move them around. In the 2nd, Hadley would threaten to score. After Trent Carlson flew out to start the inning off, Abe Paulzine would single. Abe would move up a base after Derek Kluis got thrown out at 1st base on a swinging bunt. Abe would move to 3rd on a passed ball. Carter Benda would walk, and Denver Decker would get git by a pitch to load the bases. Jacob Van Dam would strike out for the 3rd to leave the runners stranded. Mountain Lake would put their leadoff batter on base, but Hadley would leave him stranded at 3rd base.
In the 3rd inning, Hadley would get on the board. Jaden Deacon would lead off by working out a walk. Jaden would steal 2nd base and move to 3rd on a Max Zwart ground out. Alex Petersen would hit a come backer to the mound. With the contact in play, Jaden Deacon would get thrown out at the plate. Mike Dwire would be brought into courtesy run for Alex Petersen. Trent Carlson would single to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Abe Paulzine would lace a single to left as Mike Dwire would come around to score beating the throw to the plate. Derek Kluis would then double to score 2 Buttermaker’s for a 3-0 lead.
Hadley would add a run in the 5th. Max Zwart would walk to lead off. Alex Petersen would hit into a fielder’s choice. Once again Mike Swire was brought into courtesy run. Dwire would move to 2nd on a ground ball out from Trent Carlson. Abe Paulzine would get his 3rd hit of the game as Mike Dwire would score. Abe would move up to 2nd after the throw came to the plate, but Hadley was unable to bring Abe in. Mountain Lake would finally get on the board in the bottom of the inning. The Lakers would get 3 hits off Trent Carlson to score 1 run and cut Hadley’s advantage to 4-1. Mountain Lake would push across another run in the 6th on 3 more hits off Carlson with Hadley now up 4-2.
Mountain Lake would put a real test to the Buttermakers in the 7th. Mountain Lake would load the bases on 2 hits and a walk off Carlson. With the lead in jeopardy, Max Zwart re-entered the game to take over on the mound. Max had come out of the game earlier with a pulled groin muscle but was willing to work through pain. Mountain Lake would get an infield when Abe Paulzine stretched out for a soft line drive that would fall out of his glove as he hit the ground. A run scored pulling the Lakers to within 1 run. Max would get the final out on a strike out and a 4-3 Hadley lead.
Mountain Lake would bring in a reliever that kept the Buttermakers off-guard as he would face 8 Buttermaker batters and record 6 strike outs. The gamed moved to the bottom of the 9th with the game still in question. Max would walk the Laker lead-off batter to put the tying run on base. With the tension and excitement mounting, Max kept his composure. Max would pick-off the runner at 1st and then record a strike out for the 2nd out. The next batter would hit a soft line drive to Derek Kluis at 2nd base. Derek would jump for the catch. The ball would pop out of his glove, but Derek would calmly pick up the ball to throw the runner out at 1st for a thrilling, hard fought 4-3 Buttermaker victory.
Abe Paulzine had a great night at the plate as he went 3-4 with 2 rbis. Jaden Deacon picked up 2 hits while Jacob Van Dam, Trent Carlson and Derek Kluis would each pick up a hit. Derek Kluis would get credit for the other 2 Buttermaker rbis. Trent Carlson would earn the victory with Max Zwart picking up his 2nd straight save.
Final Box Score
R H E
Hadley 4 8 0
Mt. Lake 3 12 3
Sunday vs Milroy Game 1: HADLEY 5 MILROY 3 – 7 INNINGS
The Gopher League lading Milroy Irish came to town for Game 1 of the day. Hadley was hoping to keep their winning streak going and stay undefeated at home while dropping the Irish out of first. Jacob Van Dam started on the mound for Hadley.
Milroy would get a lead-off single to start the game, but Jacob Van Dam would get 3 fly ball outs to move the game to the bottom of the 1st. Joe Larson would lead-off for Hadley by reaching on an Irish fielding error to reach base. Justin Benda would work out a walk to put 2 Buttermakers on base and bringing up Nick Bruning. It did not take long for the excitement to amp up as Nick would send a fly ball over the right field fence for a quick 3-0 lead.
Hadley would go up 4-0 in the 2nd thanks to 2 Irish errors. Hadley would go up 5-0 in the 3rd. Danny Blankenship would single with 1 out. After Alex Petersen flew out to left for the 2nd out, Trent Carlson would single and Chris Halbur would reach after getting hit by a pitch to load the bases bringing rookie, Abe Paulzine to the plate. Abe would come through as he would single to right to score Carter Benda, who was courtesy running for Blankenship. Joe Larson would fly out to end the Buttermaker scoring threat.
The game moved along to the 6th with Hadley holding a 5-0 lead. In the 6th, Milroy would finally get to Van Dam. Milroy would get a lead-off double and then a single to put runners at the corners. A ground ball to 3rd would be misplayed to bring in Milroy’s first run. After getting a fielder’s choice out. Hadley would make another fielding error allowing another Irish run to score. Milroy would get another single to pull to 5-3. Another Buttermaker error on the outfield throw in allowed Milroy runners to move to 2nd and 3rd base. Jacob Van Dam would get out of the inning with any more runs allowed after getting a 3rd-out strike out.
With the game moving to the 7th, the outcome was still in question, Milroy were not willing to roll over without a fight. Milroy would get a leadoff single causing in a Buttermaker pitching change. Luke Drooger came in to relieve Van Dam. Drooger would give up a single to put the tying run on base. Drooger would get the first out on a strike out. A passed ball would advance both runners into scoring position as the tension in the park mounted. Drooger would get a strike out for the 2nd out and then get a ground ball hit to Abe Paulzine at 2nd base that scooped up the ball and threw to Trent Carlson at 1st base for the final out and the Hadley coming away with the 5-3 victory.
Danny Blankenship would lead Hadley with 2 hits. Joe Larson, Nick Bruning, Trent Carlson, Trent Carlson and Abe Paulzine would all get 1 hit. Nick Bruning led he Buttermakers with 3 rbis with Justin Benda and Abe Paulzine getting 1 rbi each. Jacob Van Dam earned the victory with Luke Drooger picking up the save.
Final Box Score
R H E
Hadley 8 11 3
Milroy 3 5 1
Game 2 vs Heron Lake: HADLEY 9 HERON LAKE 0 7 INNINGS
The Heron Lake Lakers were the Buttermakers’ opponent for Game 2. This game was rained out on Saturday and replaced the exhibition game against Castlewood, SD. Avery Weber was given the starting nod on the mound to face the Lakers.
Avery Weber would allow Heron Lake 1 hit in the 1st inning, but the runner was not advanced from 1st base. Hadley got on the board in their at bat. Joe Larson would leadoff with a single to start the game. After Justin Benda struck out, Nick Bruning would hit his 2nd homerun of the day over the left field fence for a 2-0 lead. Hadley would put two more runners on base on walks, but Hadley was unable to add to their lead.
Heron Lake would get 2 hits off Avery Weber in the 2nd, but Avery left them stranded in scoring position after a 3rd out strike out. Hadley would threaten to score in the bottom of the 2nd. Hadley would load the bases on a single, walk and Laker fielding error, but unable to get a big hit to charge ahead. Hadley would add to their lead in the 3rd inning. Alex Petersen would double to lead off the inning.. Abe Paulzine would single to score Petersen for a 3-0 lead.
Hadley would widen their lead in the 5th inning. Chris Halbur would lead-off by hitting a solo home run over the left field fence. Derek Kluis, Joe Larson and Justin Benda would single to load the bases. Nick Bruning would fly out to bring in a run. Danny Blankenship would single to score another run. Alex Petersen would then get a big hit as he would hit a 3-run homer to put Hadley in front 9-0.
Avery Weber would have little trouble with the Lakers in the last 4 innings as he would shut down the Lakers with only 3 additional hits, pitching the complete game shutout.
Joe Larson, Danny Blankenship, Alex Petersen and Derek Kluis would lead the Hadley hitting attack with 2 hits each. Justin Benda, Nick Bruning, Abe Paulzine and Chris Halbur would all pick up 1 hit. Nick Bruning and Alex Petersen lead Hadley with 3 rbis, each. Danny Blankenship, Abe Paulzine and Chris Halbur would all be credited with 1 rbi.
Final Box Score
R H E
Hadley 9 12 3
Heron Lake 0 6 1
Hadley will finish the final week of league play as they will have 3 games to end the season. On Tuesday evening, Hadley will travel to Luverne for the continuation of their rainout in May. Game time is set for 7:30. On Friday night, Hadley will travel to Pipestone for a 7:30 game against the A’s and then finish up the season at home on Sunday on Fan Appreciation Day to face the Lakefield Horned Frogs at 2:00 pm.
