Chargers down Hounds

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Minnesota Valley Lutheran's Chris Mielke, the Chargers' leading hitter last year, had been in a hitting slump so far this year.

Tuesday afternoon, he broke out of it in a big way.

His two-out double, the second two-bagger of the game, in the top of the sixth inning sparked a four-run rally as MVL improved to 3-1 in the Tomahawk Conference with a 6-3 win over Cathedral High at Johnson Park.

John Enter went the distance on the mound in getting the win. He recorded only one strike out and walked three but allowed only six hits.

Joey Penkert took the loss, going 5 2/3 innings. He was charged with all six runs and struck out four. But he was his own worst enemy, walking eight and hitting one batter. Three of those free passes scored, including the tying run in the sixth inning.

Mielke led MVL with three hits, including two doubles, with Enter driving in two runs.

Hans Biebl and Brandon Reinarts each had two hits for Cathedral.

"We did not hit the ball well early in the game," said Charger coach Craig Morgan. His team had three hits through five innings. "But after halftime (a rain delay that lasted almost 45 minutes) we hit the ball a little bit better."

Tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Cathedral would take a lead as Hans Biebl slapped a one-out double to center and scooted to third on a Joey Schugel ground out. Reinarts then slapped a ground ball to shortstop Aaron Madson, who fielded the ball cleanly but his throw to first sailed wide, allowing Biebl to score as the game was then stopped by a driving rain.

And it appeared that Penkert, despite his control problems, was in charge as he retired the first two MVL hitters in the sixth. But Mielke doubled and Jeff Dolan walked. Madson drilled a 2-1 single to center to plate Mielke to knot the game at 3-3. An error by Schugel on a Tom Metzger ground ball loaded the bases before Penkert plunked Danny Liggett to force in Dolan with the eventual game-winning run.

Tony Moldan took over for Penkert and was greeted by a two-run single by Enter for a 6-3 lead.

"We needed someone to step up and Chris did," Morgan said. "It electrifies the other players; this is a huge win for us."

"We had the game," said Cathedral coach Bob Weier. "I think that they got a break and then we had an error and hit a batter and the game kind of slipped away on us. I thought that up to that point, we had played a pretty good game; we took advantage of the few opportunities that we had but we were not quite able to close it out."

MVL would load the bases with no out in the first inning off Penkert when Mielke lined the first pitch of the game for a double. Two walks loaded the bases with two outs, but Penkert got Enter to ground back to him to end the inning.

Cathedral would score a run in the first as Schugel walked with two outs, stole second and and went to third when the throw to second went into center field. Reinarts' base hit scored him.

MVL erased that lead with two runs in the second due in large part to two Penkert walks. Jacob Berg and Peter Costello both walked to start the inning. A Mark Rolloff sacrifice bunt moved them each up a base before a wild pitch brought in one run and Mielke's second hit of the game scored the go-ahead run.

Cathedral tied the game in the third with two outs on consecutive singles by Biebl, Schugel and Reinarts before they would take the lead in the fifth and lose the game in the sixth.

"I don't know how much of a morale blow this will be," commented Weier. "We will have to see; I think that these kids are competitors. Joey (Penkert) struggled early on, but he got out of some jams. He will get more opportunities."

"There is a new attitude about baseball (at MVL)," said Morgan. "The guys have played in the summer and are committed to the game."

The Greyhound B-squad shut out MVL 7-0 in five innings. Adam Neubauer got the win, striking out six and walking two.

Dustin Hillesheim led the Cathedral bats, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Adam Prochniak, Neubauer and Eric Portner each added a hit and an RBI.

MVL 020 004 0 -- 6 8 2

CATHEDRAL 101 010 0 -- 3 6 2

WP-Enter, LP-Penkert.