Noah Barnett, above, delivered a key hit in the bottom of the first inning to drive in two runs in BE/W's victory over St. James on June 24.

After a 10-plus day layoff due to rain-caused cancellations, the Blue Earth/Winnebago Legion baseball team returned to action on Monday, June 24, with a game at Veterans Field in Blue Earth against St. James.

The layoff did not seem to hurt BE/W and they defeated St. James 11-6.

“I was happy with the way we played after having an extended break in action,” BE/W coach Paul Nienaber said after the game.

BE/W scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead.

Caleb Langager led off the inning with a walk and went to third base following a one-out single by Taylor Davids. A walk to Peyton O’Hara loaded the bases and Langager scored the first run of the game when Noah Dahl was hit by a pitch.

Another walk, this time to Matthew Klabunde, drove in Davids with BE/W’s second run of the game. A single by Braydon Rhey drove in the third run of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Noah Barnett delivered a line drive single to center field to drive in Dahl and Klabunde and give BE/W a 5-0 lead.

St. James scored two runs in the top of the second inning to cut BE/W’s advantage to 5-2.

The home town team got one run back in the bottom of the second inning. Carter Rosenau was hit by a pitch to start the inning. A walk to Davids put runners on first and second base. Both BE/W runners moved up a base on a passed ball and Rosenau scored on a single by O’Hara to make the score 6-2 in favor of BE/W.

After a scoreless third inning, St. James pushed a run across the plate in the top of the fourth to make it a 6-3 ballgame.

BE/W extended their lead to 8-3 when they scored twice in the home half of the fourth inning.

Rosenau walked and Davids was hit by a pitch to begin the fourth inning. A passed ball allowed both runners to advance a base. O’Hara’s sacrifice fly to center field scored Rosenau with Davids moving to third base. A single by Dahl plated Davids and gave BE/W a five-run lead at 8-3.

Three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning pushed BE/W’s advantage to 11-3.

Rosenau was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game and Davids walked for the second time to put runners on first and second base. O’Hara received his second walk of the contest to load the bases.

Dahl’s double to center field scored Rosenau and Davids, but O’Hara was out trying to advance to third base. A single by Branson Hauskins drove in Dahl with BE/W’s final run of the game to make the score 11-3 in favor of BE/W.

St. James scored three times in their last at-bat in the top of the seventh inning to make the final score 11-6.

“I was very happy with the way the guys performed up and down the lineup,” Nienaber added. “We had guys at the bottom of the batting order step up and deliver some big hits.”

Dahl had a big night at the plate. He was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four runs driven in. Barnett and O’Hara also drove in two runs each.

Langager picked up the win after pitching three and two-thirds innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and four walks. He struck out six St. James batters.

Dahl relieved Langager and recorded the final out in the fourth inning before pitching a scoreless fifth and sixth innings. He allowed one hit, walked three batters and had two strikeouts.

Davids pitched the last inning and was charged with three unearned runs. He gave up one hit and struck out one batter.

BE/W 5, Truman 3

The Blue Earth/Winnebago Legion baseball team got out to a five-run lead by the third inning of the contest and held on for a 5-3 victory over Truman’s Legion team in Blue Earth on June 13.

BE/W scored three times in the bottom of the first inning and tallied their final two runs in the bottom of the third inning.

Truman scored once in the fourth and two times in the sixth inning.

Taylor Davids pitched six innings. He gave up three unearned runs on five hits. He had eight strikeouts and did not walk a batter. Caleb Langager worked a scoreless seventh inning giving up one hit and striking out one batter.

Davids and Noah Dahl each drove in two runs in BE/W’s winning effort.

After playing Minnesota Lake on June 27, BE/W will be at Truman on July 1. Stories on those games will be in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.