Hayfield and Randolph Baseball Remain Undefeated

The Hayfield Vikings defeated Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 12-1 in six innings while the Randolph Rockets blanked Spring Grove 12-0 in 5 innings today.

The Vikings got a towering three run home run off the bat of junior Easton Fritcher with two outs in the top of the second inning to propel them to victory.  It landed well back of the fence in right center field at William J. Grose Park in Waterville.

Senior Ethan Slaathaug the point guard on the State Champion Hayfield Vikings basketball team hit a single to start the inning, stole second base and went to third on a throwing error.  He would later score on the round tripper.

Slaathaug hit a two out RBI single in the third inning to score senior catcher Isaiah Tempel who clubbed a two out single before him.

The Buccaneers scored their only run in the bottom of the third inning.  Levi Bowman ended Hayfield starting pitcher Nolan Klocke's no hit bid with an infield single with one out.  That was followed by a walk of the number nine batter.  WEM senior pitcher Ethan Bartelt was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Colten Henry hit an RBI single.  They would never mount another threat.

The Vikings added three runs in the 5th inning aided by a couple errors.  Junior Karver Heydt hit a RBI double to left centerfield following a senior Joey Tempel single.  Cleanup hitter senior Lucas Hanson walked to load the bases.

Isaiah Tempel hit the ball resulting in an error allowing Heydt to score.  A fielder's choice and walk followed.  With one out senior Erik Bungum was walked.  The last run scored when a ball off the bat of Designated Hitter junior Isaac Watson was fielded by the Buccaneers shortstop and he stepped on the second base bag to record one out and for some reason threw the ball to the pitcher instead of first for the possible double play.

In the top of the 6th inning 11 batters came to the plate with 5 runs scoring on one hit.  There were 5 walks in the inning and two hit batters.

Junior pitcher Klocke threw 72 pitches in 5 innings with 41 strikes.  Klocke struck out 3 batters and walked 2.  He allowed 3 hits and also hit a batter.  Lucas Hansen came in to retire the side in the bottom of the 6th for Hayfield.  Hansen delivered 10 pitches, 6 strikes with one strikeout.

Bartelt was credited with the loss for the Buccaneers going 5 and 1/3 innings with 102 pitches thrown, 62 strikes.  The senior struck out 5, walked 4 and hit a batter.

Kurtis Crosby came on in relief with trouble finding the strike zone.  He faced 7 batters.  Did not allow a hit but walked 4 Vikings and hit a batter.

Hayfield is 11-0 in the Gopher Conference, 16-0 overall.  They have been rated #1 in Class A throughout the season and showed why in Waterville.

All nine batters factored in the scoring at least once with only two in the lineup not scoring.  They are strong throughout the lineup.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown fell to 5-11 overall, 3-9 in the Gopher Conference.

In the Randolph win over Spring Grove on the road the Rockets had 10 hits while two pitchers held Spring Grove to 4 hits.  The Lions also had 3 errors in the runaway for Randolph.

The Rockets stole 8 bases in the game.  Brandon Gerster had 3 swipes, Kavin Blonigen 2.

Mason Lorenzen clubbed 3 hits for 3 RBI, Gerster tallied 2 hits with an RBI.  Blonigen added a 2 RBI double.

Collin Otto started the game on the mound allowing 3 hits in 4 innings with no walks and three strikeouts.

Tayven Geiger pitched the final inning allowing 1 hits with no walks and two strikeouts.  Otto threw 56 pitches, 36 for strikes.  Geiger tossed 9 pitches with 8 strikes.

The Randolph Rockets moved down in the latest Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings while Hayfield stayed in the top spot in Class A.  The complete rankings are below.

Class A

1. Hayfield
2. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg
3. Ashby
4. Randolph
5. New York Mills
6. Lyle-Pacelli
7. MACCRAY
8. Nevis
9. BOLD
10.South Ridge

Class 2A

1. Foley
2. Rochester Lourdes
3. Luverne
4. Albany
5. Caledonia
6. A.C.G.C.
7. Glencoe-Silver Lake
8. Perham
9. Plainview-Elgin-Millville
10. Belle Plaine

Class 3A

1. Mankato West
2. Willmar
3. Sartell-St. Stephen's
4. Chisago Lakes
5. Mahtomedi
6. New Ulm
7. Holy Angels Academy
8. Hill-Murray
9. Mankato East
10.Marshall

Class 4A

1. St. Michael-Albertville
2. Stillwater
3. Wayzata
4. Eagan
5. Andover
6. Rosemount
7. Bloomington Jefferson
8. Farmington
9. Champlin Park
10.Maple Grove

Check out these triple recipes.