St. Patrick takes commanding lead in DRS

The St. Patrick Irish have won their past five games, including three last week to increase their lead in the DRS Amateur Baseball League.

The Irish improved to 12-3 this season, two full games in front of Union Hill. They defeated Prior Lake, 11-1, in seven innings Thursday, June 17. They edged Webster, 4-3, Saturday, June 19. The following day St. Patrick edged New Prague, 2-0.

In the win over Prior Lake, Ryan Fridges hit a home run in his sixth straight game. Kyle Rhodes added three hits.

In the win over Webster, the Irish scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Rhodes picked up the win on the mound, hurling the final 1 1/3 innings.

Blake Woodson started and allowed two earned runs on seven hits. Brooks Prochaska and Peter Tveite each had a pair of hits for the Sox. Jack Friedges had three hits and Seth Ambroz, Joe Weiers, Matt Ambroz, and Bryce Simon added two hits.

A pitching dual Sunday featured Zach Seurer of St. Patrick and Bryce Novak of New Prague. Seurer allowed four hits and struck out seven in hurling a complete game.

Novak pitched seven innings, allowing no earned runs on seven hits. TJ Bergland pitched a scoreless eighth. Jace Westman scored a run and knocked in a run for the Irish. Eric Wagner had two of the four Oriole hits.

In games Wednesday, June 15, Elko defeated Veseli (7-3), New Market defeated Dundas (5-2), New Prague shutout Faribault (6-0), and Webster defeated Shakopee (6-2).

The Orioles’s Nathan Sprouls pitched seven innings and TJ Bergland pitched the final two in the win over the Lakers. Spencer Kajer and Collin Dorzinski each had a pair of hits.

Games Thursday, June 17 had St. Benedict knocking off Union Hill (8-6) and St. Patrick over Prior Lake (11-1).

Games Friday, June 18 included Montgomery downing Lonsdale (4-2) and the New Market and New Prague game moved to July 9.

The majority of the games Sunday, June 20 were washed out and will be rescheduled.

St. Patrick is on top of the league with a 12-3 record. Union Hill with an 8-3 record and Prior Lake with a 9-4 record are tied for second. Faribault is in fourth with a 7-5 record, which includes four straight losses. The remainder of the league has New Prague (6-5), Lonsdale (4-6), Webster (5-8), St. Benedict (5-8), Montgomery (4-7), Shakopee (0-10), and Veseli (0-11).