Legion team wins 2
The New Prague American Legion Post 45 baseball team returned from its Fourth of July break and played three good games, winning two of three as they head into the final week of play before the Sub-State Playoffs.
Post 45 lost to Hutchinson 4-2, but bounced back to defeat Jordan 10-6 and Lakeville South 2-1.
New Prague was scheduled to play at Farmington Tuesday, July 11. They close the regular season with games scheduled at Waconia Thursday, July 13, and Lakeville North Sunday, July 16. Coach Bryan Lindner said it is possible the Lakeville game would be cancelled due to the start of playoffs two days later.
New Prague will compete in the Sub-State 5 Tournament beginning Tuesday, July 18. All games will be at Alimagnet Field in Burnsville. New Prague is the No. 7 seed and faces No. 2 seed Burnsville at 7 p.m. Other games on Tuesday include St. Paul Park vs. Woodbury Blue, Lakeville North vs. Farmington and Rosemount vs. East Ridge.
The tournament is a double- elimination game. Further games will be played Wednesday, July 19, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 21, 22 and 23.
Hutchinson 4, New Prague 2 New Prague jumped to a 1- 0 lead Thursday, July 6, when Mason Mayer scored on an RBI groundout by Jack Becker. Hutchinson took the lead in the second, scoring two runs without a hit. Post 45 tied it in the third when Riley Schaefer singled and scored on a groundout by Ian Cameron. Hutchinson scored what proved to be the winning runs in the fourth inning. Max Fierst started and took the loss. He allowed four hits and four runs, only two earned, while striking out three in five innings. Ben Novak pitched one inning of relief, allowing a single hit. Mayer, Novak, Schaefer, Becker and Fierst had the five New Prague hits.
New Prague 10, Jordan 6 Josh Dorshak had three hits and four RBIs, and Ben Novak and Max Fierst had three hits each to lead New Prague to a 10-6 win over Jordan Friday, July 7.
New Prague took a 2-1 lead in the second on a tworun triple by Dorshak. With the score tied at 2-2 in the fourth, Post 45 scored four runs. Jacob Wetschka reached on an error and Mason Mayer singled. After Dorshak reached on an error, Schafer hit into a fielder’s choice in which everyone was safe, bringing in a run. Noah Wicklander’s sacrifice plated another run, then Luke Zweber grounded out and Ben Novak singled to drive in a run.
Post 45 added three more in the fifth, with Wetschka getting an RBI single and Dorshak an RBI double. New Prague’s final run came in the sixth, with Novak singling, stealing second and coming home on a hit by Wetschka.
Besides Dorshak, Novak and Fierst both had three hits and Mayer, Zweber and Wetschka had two each. Jacque Jones scored two runs. New Prague pounded out 17 hits.
Zweber took the win on the mound, allowing four hits and three runs, only one earned, while striking out six. Novak and Mayer pitched in relief.
New Prague 2, Lakeville South 1 New Prague’s Jack Becker pitched seven innings, allowing five hits and striking out four to get a complete game 2-1 win over Lakeville South Monday, July 10.
New Prague scored a run in the second when Riley Schaefer reached on an error and scored on a base hit by Ian Cameron. They added another run in the third when Mason Mayer had a leadoff single and advanced on an error. He came home on an RBI double by Jacob Mader.
That would be all the runs Post 45 would need as Becker kept Lakeville South at bay. South had hits from the first three hitters in the fourth inning, scoring a run, but then Becker retired nine of the next 10 hitters he faced before surviving a walk and a base hit in the seventh. Mader and Mayer each had two hits for New Prague.
