OTC to travel to Sebeka in PRC action

Photo by Chad Koenen
Eighth grader Kale Misegades pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball in relief on Thursday night against state ranked New York Mills.

Otter Tail Central opened its season on Tuesday night with a 5-1 loss to Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale. 

The game was tied at 1-1 with Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale batting in the top of the eighth when an error scored two runs for the Raiders.

OTC lost despite out-hitting BHV 6-1.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, OTC scored when Kole Weishalla threw a wild pitch allowing one run across the plate for the Bulldogs.

Kaleb Hammes took the loss for OTC in relief for Gavin Pausch. 

Pausch started the game and pitched seven innings, allowing only one hit and one run, while striking out three. 

“I feel for Gavin, he had an awesome start on the mound and we just couldn’t back his performance,. Gavin has now allowed only 1 earned run on 12 innings pitched and only has 2 no decisions, we need to be better offensively.” 

Ryan Hendrickson, head coach

Hunter Haugen, Owen Buehler, Soren Floden, Kale Misegades, Lane Dilly and Garrett Nelson each collected one hit to lead OTC.

Wednesday

OTC watched the game slip away early and couldn’t recover in a 9-2 loss to Parkers Prairie on Wednesday. Parkers Prairie scored on a fielder’s choice by Mason Boesl and a single by Jake Wagner in the second inning.

OTC struggled to put runs on the board and had a tough time defensively containing Parkers Prairie, giving up nine runs.

Owen Harig takes a cut at a pitch during last week’s game against second ranked New York Mills in Henning.

Chase Thieschafer earned the victory on the pitcher’s mound for Parkers Prairie as he allowed four hits and two runs over six innings, striking out six. Nolan Steidl threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen.

Owen Buehler took the loss for OTC as allowed eight hits and six runs over five innings, striking out three.

Jack Mekalson led the Bulldogs with two hits and 2 RBI in three at bats. 

“It was great to see Jack step up in a big spot and get the clutch hit.  Jack is a Sophomore that hasn’t played much baseball, he decided to give it a shot, and his athleticism is really starting to show,” said head coach Ryan Hendrickson.

Parkers Prairie saw the ball well today, racking up nine hits in the game. Steidl and Thieschafer each managed multiple hits for Parkers Prairie. Parkers Prairie stole six bases during the game as two players stole more than one. Cole Gesell led the way with two.

Thursday

OTC dropped a pair of games to second ranked New York Mills on Thursday in Henning. 

In their first game of the night, OTC fell to NY Mills by a score of 13-3. In the first inning, the Eagles scored on a single by Breck Hensch, a single by Bode Roberts, a groundout by Will Oakes, and a single by Cody Barthel.

NY Mills scored five runs in the third inning. The Eagles’ big inning was driven by an error on a ball put in play by Braden Ehnert and Oakes, a walk by Johah Johnson, and a double by Hensch.

Barthel led the NY Mills to victory on the mound as he allowed three hits and two runs over four innings, striking out five. Hensch threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen.

Owen Buehler swings at a pitch during last week’s Park Region Conference game against the Eagles.

Jayden Harig took the loss for as he pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and 11 runs, seven earned while striking out one. Kale Misegades came in to pitch out of relief and threw really well going 2 2/3 innings, giving up zero earned runs on two hits.  

“I am really impressed how resilient our young team is. We had an 8th grade battery (Kale to Drew Evavold) and both were fearless versus a very good Mills team,” said head coach Ryan Hendrickson. “We started two eighth graders, two other freshmen and a couple sophomores and juniors, no seniors and they really showed competitiveness and resilience. We will be a very competitive team real quick! We have been making some inexperienced mistakes and have too many errors at this point, but these men really scrap, making this a lot of fun yet.” 

Hunter Haugen led OTC with two hits in three at bats.

In the second game of the day, OTC fell to NY Mills by a score of 13-4. 

In the first inning, OTC got their offense started in the top of the first inning with three runs, before NY Mills tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on a Monte Briard two-run double.

NY Mills pulled away for good with eight runs in the second inning. In the second Bode Roberts tripled on a 1-0 count, scoring three runs, Brayden Ehnert doubled on a 3-1 count, scoring one run, Briard singled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring one run, Cody Barthel grounded out, scoring one run, Jonah Ruther singled on a 0-1 count, scoring one run, and Johah Johnson singled on a 1-1 count, scoring one run.

Ehnert got the win for New York Mills as he allowed four hits and three runs over four innings, striking out nine and walking one. Briard threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen.

Hunter Haugen took the loss for OTC as he allowed nine hits and 11 runs over two innings, striking out one.

Gavin Pausch went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Bulldogs. 

“Pausch has been putting the ball in play so far all season, but really swung well and confidentally tonight. He hits in the 3 spot and had a good night offensively, it was great to see him hit the gaps today.” 

Ryan Hendrickson, head coach

NY Mills totaled 14 hits in the game. Briard, Ruther, Ehnert, D Robinson, Roberts, and Bren Salo all collected multiple hits for New York Mills. Briard led New York Mills with three hits in three at bats. New York Mills stole six bases during the game as two players stole more than one. Salo led the way with three.

“We really hit the ball better today.  The outcome didn’t go our way but we really improved offensively,” said Hendrickson. “We had a lot of hard hit outs, hard hit base hits, but most importantly we hit a lot better with Runners in scoring position.”

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 0-5 on the season.