Legion edged in offensive blowout

The Maple Lake Legion baseball team finished off their regular season with a loss to Monticello on Monday, July 14. The nine inning match-up featured numerous hits and runs produced by both teams.



Maple Lake vs. Monticello

Maple Lake, as the visiting team, stepped to the plate first and connected with the ball, but Monticello was able to make the plays and they went down with three ground-outs. In the bottom half of the inning Monticello went down with three ground-outs, as well, as Mitch Wurm hurled from the mound for Maple Lake.

With two outs in the top of the second, Cameron Knudsen connected for a single and Ryan Kotila reached on a walk, but a fly-out ended the rally. Monticello got back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the second, but three straight outs got Maple Lake out of the inning unharmed.

Maple Lake recorded a productive top of the third inning as they batted around and scored nine runs. Connecting for hits in the inning were Aaron Rassat, Jordan Kelm, Nick Hudek, and in the second time around the line-up Rassat picked up his second hit of the inning. Riley Decker and Sean Lawler both reached the base paths twice with two walks apiece. Monticello got two runs back in the bottom of the third as they connected for two doubles.

In the top of the fourth, Maple Lake added one more run to put their run total at 10 while Monticello had two runs on the board. Kotila, who reached the base paths with a single, scored Maple Lake’s only run when Rassat drove him in with his third straight single. However, Maple Lake’s big lead didn’t last long as Monticello countered with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the score at 10-9. Wurm got Maple Lake out of the inning as he picked up two straight strikeouts.

Kelm was the lone Maple Lake base runner to reach the base paths in the top of the fifth as he was hit by the pitch, but he was left stranded at third. Monticello tied the game up at 10 runs apiece in the bottom of the fifth as they scored one run.

It was a one, two, three inning for Maple Lake in the top of the sixth, but defensively they came through and had a three-up and three-down inning as they twisted a double play.

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