Sports

Legion team extends win streak to seven games

By Tyler Ohmann

06/26/2012

The Bottineau legion team picked up four more wins this past week with doubleheader victories over both Harvey on Thursday and Surrey on Friday.

The wins pushed Bottineau Post 42 to a record of 9-1 on the season.

“They do get along very well and they all understand how they can help the team,” said Bottineau Head Coach Derek Aus. “They work together so well, so they’ll be competitive every time.”

The success started on Thursday as Bottineau hosted Harvey for a doubleheader.

In game one Bottineau rallied from a run down to come back in the sixth inning to get a win.

The winning run came on a steal home from Bottineau catcher Mark LaCroix.

LaCroix took a big walking lead and caught Harvey pitcher Austan Schmidt napping. LaCroix was able to slide under the tag to score the eventual game-winner.

Justin McCloud pitched the complete game for Bottineau, allowing only four hits while striking out seven.

Offensively McCloud scored two of Bottineau’s three runs on a 1-for-2 day at the plate. Cody Brooks had two runs batted in (RBI) on the day.
Bottineau only had four hits in the game, and had to play small ball to get their runs in.

“We didn’t get a lot of hits today, so we had to manufacture some runs,” Aus said. “Harvey is a good team and they are very fundamental.”

Game two was just as exciting as Bottineau’s win again boiled down to late-inning heroics.

This time the heroics came from Dustin Wall, who was in the lineup due to some players on vacation.

Wall came up with batters on second and third and one out and delivered a single into the hole between third and short to drive in the walk-off run.

“I didn’t come today thinking that I would be in that situation, but I’m glad I was, and got our team a win,” Wall said. “He just threw it right down the middle and I hit it.”

The hit again was one of only four hits for Bottineau, who again struggled at the plate, but made up for it on the base paths and by taking advantage of mistakes.

“It is nice, he worked a real good count and put a good swing on it,” Aus said. “He works hard, and it is good to see young guys step up, we depend on the older guys too much sometimes.”

“When one of those guys comes through it is good to see,” Aus said.

The win and the hit gave both Wall and Bottineau some confidence.

“It gives me a lot of confidence now that I know that I can do it, so I’ll be ready for the next time,” Wall said. “It helps a lot with everyone’s morale, and gives you confidence being on a good team.”

Cody Brooks pitched all five innings for Bottineau and got the win.

Bottineau extended their winning streak to seven games by downing Surrey twice on Friday.

In game one it was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded runs, but not in the usual manner.

In fact Bottineau didn’t have a hit in the first five innings, but managed to manufacture four runs to take a 4-0 lead.

Surrey managed to cut the Bottineau lead to one after a four-run sixth inning, but Justin McCloud relieved starter Devin Bercier to shut down the Surrey rally, pitching the final 1 and 1/3 innings flawlessly.

Offensively Bottineau was led by Taylor Milbrath who went hit less, but managed to score three runs. Hunter Braaten also did well, rapping a single in the fifth inning, and scoring runs in the second and fifth.

Bottineau took game two much more easily as they found their offense and smashed 12 hits in a 9-2 five-inning win.

McCloud was 3-for-3 in the game and four other Bottineau players had two hits apiece.

Bottineau has a busy week upcoming as they test their solid record against four teams.

First they played last night at home against Rolette, but results were unavailable by press time. Bottineau plays again at 5 p.m. tonight at home against Burlington. Bottineau will host Cando at 5 p.m., Thursday, and will finish off their week with a pair of games on Friday in New Rockford.