Ayden Olson channeled his inner Shohei Ohtani on June 29 to power Otter Tail Central Black to victory over Parkers Prairie at Tony Kawlewski Field in Henning. 

Olson went the distance on the mound, holding Parkers Prairie to 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 10.  At the plate, Olson started the scoring for the Bulldogs with a big 2-run home run to left field in the bottom of the first inning. OTC never looked back en route to victory.

In the first inning, Parkers Prairie got their offense started. Justin Olson singled on a 1-2 count, scoring one run. OTC scored 3 runs in the bottom of the first.  The first 2 off the home run from Olson and then 1 more off the bat of Quenton Beske.  

OTC would add an insurance run in the sixth inning off a sacrifice fly from Max Mekalson.

AJ Woodworth took the loss for Parkers Prairie. Woodworth lasted five innings, allowing four hits and four runs while striking out eight.

Olson, Dawson Bushman, Max Mekalson, and Quenton Beske each collected 1 hit to lead OTC 15U Black.

“Ayden had a day he won’t forget. On top of his big home run in the first, he was brilliant on the mound, keeping a solid team off balance throughout the game.  What a day for him,” said coach Evan Meece. “On top of that, the team played great defense and was great on the bases.”

Thursday

OTC watched the game slip away early and couldn’t recover in a 9-1 loss to Fergus Falls on Thursday. Fergus Falls scored on a sacrifice fly by Nolan Felstul in the first inning, a double by Jacob Jehc in the first inning, and a single by Brady Krein in the second inning.

OTC struggled to put runs on the board and had a tough time defensively containing Fergus Falls, giving up 9 runs.

Fergus Falls got things started in the first inning. Felstul’s sac fly scored one run.

Fergus Falls scored five runs in the fifth inning. Fergus Falls’s big inning was driven by an error on a ball put in play by Jehc and Bennett Thielke, a walk by Kaden Zender, a fielder’s choice by Caleb Fronning and a double by Nolan Filany.

Ayden Olson took the loss for OTC as he allowed 7 hits and 8 runs over 5 innings, walking 1.

Ryan Despard and Beck Thorson each managed 1 hit to lead the way offensively.

“We didn’t have the energy on either side of the ball tonight,” said coach Evan Meece. “We weren’t prepared for a ball game and came out super flat.  We need to clean up the defensive side of things a lot moving forward. Offensively, we’ll take a look at our approaches and make the adjustments for the rest of the season.”