Crusaders Sweep Cats in Doubleheader
Following a big win over Twin River (7-4), the St. Paul/Palmer Cats fell on the losing side of two closely contested games in last Thursday’s doubleheader with Lincoln Christian. The losses bring St. Paul/ Palmer’s record to 4-6 as they pass the midway point of the season.
After the Crusaders took a one-run advantage in the second inning of the opening game, the Cats settled into a groove. Starting pitcher Braxton Heater held Lincoln Christian scoreless throughout the following three frames, allowing the St. Paul/Palmer offense to do damage from inside the batter’s box.
Zandyn Weller brought home Quade Peterson with an RBI single in the third inning. Then, with two outs on the board in the bottom of the fourth, Jadyn Thomsen stepped up to the plate with two runners on base and delivered a fly ball single to left field, scoring Heater and Bryce Knapp to give the Cats a 3-1 advantage going into the fifth inning.
Both lineups were rendered scoreless in the fifth, then Lincoln Christian took advantage of some cracks in the Cats’ defense. Two quick errors and a wild pitch allowed the Crusaders’ Blake Boerger to slide safely into home plate to cut the deficit to one run.
St. Paul/Palmer left two runners stranded on the base paths in the bottom of the sixth frame, holding onto that onerun lead by a thread.
In the seventh, with the game on the line, Lincoln Christian’s Andrew Clough drew an eight-pitch walk to represent the tying run. With two outs, Grant Dehaan, Boerger, and Andrew Johnson hit three consecutive singles, giving the Crusaders their first lead since the second inning, 5-3.
To close out the game, the Cats were retired in order with Lincoln Christian’s Tysen Workman earning the save and the win on the mound.
Heater, through 5.2 innings at the rubber, surrendered six hits and four earned runs (one unearned) while striking out three Lincoln Christian batters. Leading the way at the plate, Peterson and Thomsen earned two hits apiece. Weller finished with one hit, one run, and one walk in his three plate appearances.
The second game of the day turned into a pitcher’s duel between Ashton Meinecke and Lincoln Christian’s Max Emanuel.
Meinecke took his lumps early on by letting in two scores in the first inning. The senior quickly responded though, helping his own cause with a third inning RBI to bring the tally to 2-1.
Following another scoreless inning from the Crusaders, Knapp brought things back to even in the fourth inning, sending a ground ball up the middle to score Heater.
Lincoln Christian tacked on one more run in the bottom of the inning and, despite Shane Kosmicki pitching two hitless innings to close out the game, St. Paul/Palmer put just two runners on base between the sixth and seventh frames, never seriously threatening home plate.
In five innings of work, Meinecke let in three runs on six hits and five strikeouts. Coming out of the bullpen, Kosmicki allowed no hits, no runs, and three walks in two frames.
Emanuel was awarded the victory on the mound, lasting six innings while giving up one run and three hits.
Earning hits for the Cats were Ashton Meinecke, Alex Meinecke, and Knapp. Alex Meinecke and Thomsen each scored one run and Ashton Meinecke accounted for the team’s lone RBI.
The Cats have a busy slate of games ahead of them this week, beginning on Thursday, April 20th when they will host Fairbury (4-10) at 4:30 p.m. To close out the week, St. Paul/Palmer will stay on their home field as they welcome in Maxwell-North Platte St. Patrick’s (4-2) for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 22nd, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in St. Paul.