OTC outscores opponents 35-8 to open regular season

The Otter Tail Central Bulldogs couldn’t have asked for a better start to their regular season. OTC opened with three wins, all against Park Region Conference rivals, as they improved to 3-0 on the young season.

After defeating Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale by a score of 1-0 on Tuesday night, the Bulldogs defeated New York Mills 21-8 on Thursday and Sebeka by a score of 12-0 on Friday.

This week the Bulldogs will  travel to Parkers Prairie on Thursday night in their lone action of the week. 

Tuesday

An early lead helped OTC defeat Bertha Hewitt/Verndale 1-0 on Tuesday. OTC opened the scoring in the second inning when Braylin Deleon induced Eric Fick to hit into a fielder’s choice, but Lane Dilly was able to score on the play.

The pitching was strong on both sides. The Bulldogs pitchers struck out six, while Bertha Hewitt-Verndale sat down eight.

Gavin Pausch earned the win for the Bulldogs . The right handed pitcher gave up four hits and zero runs over six innings, striking out four and walking none. Lane Dilly collected the save for OTC

Deleon took the loss for Bertha Hewitt-Verndale. They went three innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out three and walking two. 

“What a beautiful night for ball! Gavin led us on the mound, I wasn’t too sure how long to let him go on his first outing but the kid just kept getting stronger as the game went on,” said head coach Ryan Hendrickson. “He gave us six outstanding innings and let the Bulldog Dilly close it out.  Lane also looked great as he saw the minimum of three batters and struck out two of them. It was great to see our defense play flawless tonight.  We have not taken a whole lot of reps outside yet this spring, but their years of Summer Ball and experience through past Spring’s have helped tremendously.  Our defense was on point, like we haven’t missed a step. Offensively we were a little slow, but that is to be expected at this point. The first win is huge for a lot of reasons, I like where we are at.” 

Pausch led OTC with two hits in three at bats. Dilly and Pausch each stole multiple bases for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were sure-handed in the field and didn’t commit a single error. Short stop Owen Harig and catcher Ayden Olson had the most chances in the field with six.

Thursday

Soren Floden collected four hits in five at bats, as OTC defeated New York Mills by a score of 21-8 on Thursday. Floden tripled in the fifth inning singled in the first inning, singled in the sixth inning, and singled in the seventh inning to lead the charge. 

OTC got on the board in the top of the first inning after Kale Misegades doubled, and Erlc Fick walked, each scoring.

OTC added two runs in the third after Owen Harig stole home.

The Bulldogs added eight runs on seven hits in the top of the fifth inning. Lane Dilly drew a walk, scoring one run, Floden tripled, scoring two runs, a dropped third strike scored one run, Noah Link singled scoring one run, Ryan Despard hit a sacrifice fly, scoring one run. Harig tripled scoring one run, and Gavin Pausch singled, scoring one run.

“We started off a little slow, but then we got the bats going.  It was really fun playing with the boys tonight and got the win in the end.  I thought we played really well together against a tough conference foe.  It was a really fun game to be a part of,” said Ayden Olson.

New York Mills scored six runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth inning. Teagan Lausten doubled, scoring one run, an error scored two runs, Braxton Ehnert singled. scoring one run, and Grady Roberts doubled, scoring two runs.

OTC  scored five runs on three hits in the top of the seventh inning, An error soured one run. Ayden Olson grounded out, scoring two runs, an error scored one run, and Harig doubled, scoring one run.

“It was really fun to see the boys bats come alive tonight.  The way we ran the bases tonight is what OTC baseball is all about,” said assistant coach Dakota Aeling.

Dilly earned the win for the Bulldogs. The righty allowed seven hits and six runs (one earned) over 4 2/3 innings, striking out three and walking two. Kale Misegades appeared in relief for OTC.

Teagan Lausten took the loss for New York Mills. The starting pitcher went three innings. allowing four runs on five hits, striking out three and walking two. 

OTC tallied 18 hits in the game. Harig and Floden each collected our hits for the Bulldogs. Eric Fick went 1-for-4 at the plate as the outfielder led the team with three runs batted in Link, Misegades and Pausch each collected multiple hits for the Bulldogs. 

Harig, Link, Misegades, Pausch, Floden and Dilly each stole multiple bases in the win. OTC ran wild on the base paths, accumulating 15 stolen bases for the game. 

New York Mills piled up 10 hits in the game. Blake Unger and Braxton Ehnert were a force together in the lineup, as they each collected two hits for the Eagles. Dashaun Robinson and Grady Roberts each drove in runs for New York Mills. 

Friday

OTC won big over Sebeka Trojans Varsity 12-0 on Friday.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring with four runs in the top of the first thanks to a lead off walk to Owen Harig, single for Gavin Pausch, RBI singles for Lane Dilly, Noah Link, and Eric Fick. 

OTC extended their early lead with five runs in the top of the second thanks to RBIs by Dilly, Fick and Conner Thompson.

A fielders choice by Gavin Pausch extended the OTC lead to 10-0 in the top of the third inning.

Link earned the win for OTC. The right handed pitcher allowed two hits and zero runs over four innings, striking out one and walking one. Fick threw one inning of scoreless ball for OTC in relief as he struck out one hitter and walked another.

Max Lake took the loss for Sebeka. The starting pitcher went two innings, surrendering nine runs (four earned) on five hits, striking out two and walking three. 

Ryan Despard, OTC’s number nine hitter, led the team with two hits in three at-bats. Pausch and Dilly each drove in two runs for OTC.