Karson Legred connects for a hit against Jackson on Thursday, July 9. BE/W won both games of the doubleheader.

The Blue Earth/Winnebago Senior League baseball team improved their record to 5-0 for the season with an 18-1 thrashing of Madelia on Monday, July 13. The game ended after the top of the fifth inning due to the 10-run rule.

BE/W scored six runs in the second inning, three in the third and nine in the fourth to account for their 18 runs.

Logan O’Hara pitched the first two innings and Kyle Hagedorn hurled the final two innings for BE/W. The duo gave up one run and held Madelia to just two hits during the contest.

Hunter Bleess had three hits for BE/W, including a double. Karson Legred had two hits, reached on an error and scored three runs. Luke Mertens got on base each of his four trips to the plate with three walks and one hit. He also scored three runs.

BE/W 13, Jackson 0

Luke Mertens bunts for a single against Jackson.

Start with solid defense, add some good pitching, throw in a measure of timely hitting and top things off with a dose of alert baserunning and you have the recipe for a successful baseball team.

The Blue Earth/Winnebago Senior League squad used all of those ingredients to down Jackson 13-0 in the first game of a doubleheader in Jackson on Thursday, July 9. BE/W was not as focused in the second game but rallied from a 4-1 deficit to claim a 12-8 victory and improve their record to 4-0.

Koby Nagel and Anthony Carr combined to pitch the shutout in the first game. Nagel went four innings and gave up two hits, walked four and struck out six Jackson batters. Carr gave up one hit and struck out one in one inning of relief.

Nagel got things going for the BE/W offense with a bunt single to start off the top of the second inning. He stole second base and scored on Adam Schavey’s bunt single. The catcher had delayed throwing the ball to first and Nagel alertly rounded third base and sped for home catching the Jackson players by surprise.

Schavey stole second and scored on a single by Kean Hicks. An error by the home team allowed Hicks to reach second base on the play. Hicks stole third base and scored on Luke Mertens’ RBI single to right field.

Mertens stole second and went to third on a throwing error. Keegan O’Brien’s sacrifice fly brought Mertens home with BE/W’s fourth and final run of the inning.

BE/W did some more damage in the top of the fourth inning.

Hicks reached on a walk. Mertens had a bunt single to put runners on first and second base. Carr laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up to second and third.

A groundout to short scored Hicks with Mertens taking third. Mertens scored when Jackson’s right fielder misplayed Logan O’Hara’s fly ball with O’Hara reaching second base. Karson Legred singled to score O’Hara. Legred took second on the throw home. Hunter Bleess singled to bring in Legred and prompt a pitching change by the home team.

Bleess stole second and third base and scored on Nagel’s single for BE/W’s fifth run of the inning to give BE/W a 9-0 lead.

The visitors headed into the top of the fifth inning needing one more run for a chance to end the game early via the 10-run rule. The first two BE/W batters struck out so things were not looking too good for a shorter game.

Carr gave the BE/W squad some life when he lined a single past the Jackson third baseman. O’Brien reached on an error to put runners on second and third. O’Hara singled to left to plate Carr with BE/W’s 10th run of the game. A double off the bat of Legred brought home two more runs. Ty Peterson came in to run for Legred. He moved to third on an infield hit by Bleess and scored on an error to make the score 13-0 in favor of BE/W heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.

Jackson had runners on first and second with only one out, but a game ending double play sealed the five-inning victory for BE/W.

BE/W 12, Jackson 8

Jackson was the visiting team on the scoreboard for the second game. Carr started on the mound for BE/W and retired Jackson in order in the top of the first inning.

Karson Legred scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first when he stole home after reaching base on an error. He had advanced to third base on Keegan O’Brien’s double.

Jackson combined four hits with two walks to take a 4-1 lead in the top of the third inning.

BE/W closed the gap to 4-2 in the bottom of the third. Kean Hicks doubled and moved to third base on a wild pitch. He scored on a single by Luke Mertens.

Jackson increased their lead to 5-2 in the top of the fourth inning but BE/W came back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-5 lead.

BE/W loaded the bases and Hicks was hit by a pitch to bring in the first run. Mertens then hit a bases-clearing double over the left fielder’s head for three more runs. Carr’s single drove in Mertens with the fifth run of the inning.

Jackson regained the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take an 8-7 lead but BE/W scored five more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 12-8 lead. Jackson was unable to score in either the sixth or seventh innings to keep BE/W undefeated in their first four games.