Injury dampers Bishop Ryan’s wins over DL-B
By CRAIG HAUPERT, Staff Writer chaupert@minotdailynews.com
POSTED: May 9, 2008
Bishop Ryan starting pitcher Cole Krueger was well on the way to an outstanding pitching performance. Through two innings he had four strikeouts and had retired five straight Des Lacs-Burlington batters.
A head-first slide into second base derailed all that potential.
“I heard (my right shoulder) pop. It went right back in right away. It stinks, every year it’s something new,” Krueger said.
Krueger, who bats in the leadoff position, did not return but could be seen sitting on the Lions’ bench with an ice-wrap draped over his shoulder. He said he will visit a doctor today for further diagnosis.
The Lions ended up winning 8-0 and followed it up with an 8-6 win in game 2 of a Class B Region 7 baseball doubleheader against DL-B Thursday at Corbett Field.
The wins give the Lions a 9-0 record in Region 7 play and if Trinity Christian decides not to reschedule a rained-out game from earlier in the season, the Lions will have finished the regular season with a perfect region record.
Despite the victories, Bishop Ryan head coach Bryan Kramer wasn’t chipper.
“We were lousy. They outplayed us, they outhit us, they were more intense. They played better baseball than we did,” Kramer said. “Our focus wasn’t there. We weren’t playing aggressive baseball. We blew offensive plays one after another. We better get a whole lot better in a hurry.”
Lions senior Clay Kallias relieved Krueger to start the third inning of game 1 and allowed four hits and struck out seven in five innings. Lakers starter Shawn Storseth gave up six earned runs and 10 hits in six full innings.
Bishop Ryan led 5-0 after two innings in game 1, getting a two-RBI single from Krueger and a two-RBI double from Kallias in the second. The Lakers had a chance to get back in the game in the fourth inning when they had runners on second and third with no outs. The Lions got out of the jam when junior catcher Ben Kramer picked off Matt Opland at third and Kallias struck out the next two batters.
“Getting those runs across would have changed the game there,” Lakers head coach Andy Lach said. “That’s something we’ve dealt with all year. We seem to be OK to start innings offensively, but we have trouble getting a big hit with guys in scoring position.”
In game 2, the Lions got four runs in the first on RBI singles by seniors Brooks Backes, Kallias and Brian Himmerick. They added two more runs in the second and one each in the fifth and sixth innings.
Lions starter Backes pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing one hit and two earned runs while striking out 11. Freshman Ben Magnuson took over for Backes and gave up three hits and three earned runs in 1 2/3 inning.
Opland hit a two-RBI single as part of a four-run seventh by the Lakers. He finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored. Teammate Drew Erickson was 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Lakers starter Taylor Holte took the loss and allowed eight hits and seven earned runs.
Lions’ senior Zac Larson was 3-for-4 with two RBIs in game 1, while Backes was 2-for-4 in game 2 and Ben Kramer 2-for-3 in game 2.
Bishop Ryan (20-2) will play host to Surrey Saturday and DL-B (10-14, 3-7 Region 7) will play a yet-to-be determined opponent in a region play-in game Monday.
