Jordan Baseball Picks Up Big Win Over La Crescent to End Challenging Week
By Andy Buckner
A frustrating 1-3 record over the week from April 28–May 2 left the Hubmen baseball team looking for better at-bats that would give them the ability to showcase their baserunning prowess and provide run support for their solid pitching. Last week’s games against Southwest Christian, Delano, and La Crescent gave them those opportunities. While the offense began turning a corner toward the end of the four-game week, the Hubmen arms showed signs of regression, leading to another 1-3 stretch over the past week.
Tuesday, May 6, saw the Hubmen play host to the Southwest Christian Stars for a doubleheader. For Game 1, rising sophomore Michael Thrune took the mound and turned in arguably the best start of his varsity career, topping his season debut against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead. Unfortunately, his masterful one-run complete game effort received zero support from the Hubmen offense. Jordan’s five scattered hits throughout the game did not lead to any run production, resulting in a tough-luck 1-0 loss.
“It was a very good baseball game,” head coach Brandon Arnold said of the loss. “(Southwest) hit one over the fence and they beat us.” It was a simple analysis, but true to the dominant performance of Thrune and the Hubmen bats, which actually outhit the Stars five to two.
Having the opportunity to quickly turn the page, junior Griffin Dahmen was the starting pitcher for Game 2 of the doubleheader. Usually a dependable arm for the Hubmen, Dahmen was quickly attacked by the Stars offense when catcher Ben Lindberg launched a two-run home run over the left-field wall. Dahmen was able to buckle down and allow just one more earned run through the next four innings. Down just three runs in the fifth, the Hubmen had the chance to hit their way back into the game. A walk by Thrune, a hit-by-pitch for Dahmen, and another walk by senior Jack Lewis loaded the bases with one out. After a hard ground ball from senior Wyatt Clark led to a force-out at the plate for the second out, senior Blake Chalupsky came through with a clutch two-run single, making sure the golden opportunity did not go for naught. Chalupsky would later come around to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3.
The mission to keep the game tied in the top half of the sixth got off to a poor start. Chalupsky took a poor approach to a ground ball single in left field, allowing the Stars leadoff batter Jimmy Dahlen to immediately reach scoring position. Dahlen’s leadoff efforts were followed by a single from sophomore Cole Bjerke and an RBI double by freshman Jack Manion. Bjerke would later score from third on a single up the middle by sophomore Cruz Winegarden, and Manion scored the third and final run of the inning on a wild pitch.
The Hubmen bats were unable to answer back against the Stars’ underclassmen’s impressive efforts. Gopher commit Zach Trettin tacked on a home run for good measure in the top of the seventh inning to secure a 7-3 win for the Stars.
“What killed us in that game is that we had four errors,” Arnold lamented. “Kudos to them. They beat us, but we had two competitive games that we were in for a majority of each game against a very talented team in our conference.”
The Hubmen then drove up to Delano to begin a grueling stretch of five road games—one they are still in the midst of at the time of publication—that will take them to the borders of the state. The Hubmen’s best game of the season thus far was a 6-3 victory over Delano at the Mini-Met. Now on the Tigers’ home turf, the Hubmen saw the more vicious side of their Wright County Conference rival.
Coming off of a stellar varsity debut, sophomore Tyler Bohnsack struggled in three innings on the mound, giving up two runs in the first and a crooked four runs in the second.
“He gave up six runs, but only three of them were earned,” Arnold noted of Bohnsack’s performance. “There were a couple of balls and bounces that didn’t go our way that—if they do—it’s a completely different game early on.”
While relief pitching was unable to provide meaningful support to the Hubmen’s efforts—giving up an additional four runs throughout the ballgame—the bats were mostly unable to show the signs of life they displayed in their big fifth inning against Southwest Christian. Were it not for the bat of senior captain Shawn Klehr, the 10-5 loss may have appeared much more lopsided. Klehr drove in four of the five Hubmen runs with an infield single, an RBI walk, and a two-run single to center field. Of course, Klehr would not have had those RBI opportunities were it not for an impressive job by the Hubmen bats to reach base seven times against University of St. Thomas (MN) commit Jack Scanlon.
Ultimately, the Hubmen were left to depend on a long road trip to La Crescent for one last chance to avoid a winless week. The usually steady Hubmen pitching continued its downward trend against the Lancers—who entered the game standing at an intimidating 15-1.
Dahmen and Thrune tag-teamed for a rough seven-walk, seven-run combined outing. However, the Hubmen bats experienced the resurrection they were long anticipating. Klehr set the table masterfully, reaching base three times and scoring each time. His first scored run came on the strength of a game-tying single in the third inning that Dahmen delivered with two runners on. Dahmen’s single was then followed by the first of four hits in an impressive day at the plate for Blake Chalupsky. Dahmen, meanwhile, would go on to drive in three more throughout the game. Thrune, Lewis, and sophomore Joey Lamusga also contributed RBI hits to the effort, helping make up for the Hubmen’s pitching struggles and ending the difficult week on a high note, taking down the Lancers 11-7.
“That was the best energy we had all year,” Arnold said of the impressive victory. “Whether it was on defense or on offense, that was the best energy we had all year. That’s going to correlate to us being more productive. There were multiple guys that had big moments in that game.”
Arnold was sure to point out that a couple of those big moments came from senior Jack Pass. While it would not open too many eyes on a stat sheet, Pass had two key bunts that—in both situations—put two runners in scoring position for the top of the Hubmen order, who went to work consistently throughout the game.
With the good energy lingering all the way from La Crescent, the Hubmen remain optimistic as they continue their difficult stretch of road games. They travel to Hutchinson Tuesday for a 7 p.m. rematch with the team that soured the Hubmen’s opening night with a 15-5 beatdown. The Hubmen then head to Victoria Thursday afternoon, with their newly awakened bats getting a chance for revenge against a Holy Family team that narrowly edged them out 2-0 earlier in the season. Friday will bring an end to the travels for the time being when they head about as far south as a Minnesota high school baseball team will travel to take on Worthington for a 5:30 p.m. matchup.