Lee Hodges, above, went the distance in Blue Earth’s 4-1 victory over Waterville on July 11. Hodges allowed one run in his complete-game performance while striking out 10 Waterville batters.

The Blue Earth Pirates had a good weekend when they picked up two victories in two days on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12.

Blue Earth 6,

Morristown 0

Cody Sukalski and Brandyn Olsen combined to pitch nine shutout innings in Blue Earth’s 6-0 decision over the Morristown Morries on July 12.

Sukalski went the first eight innings to pick up the win. He allowed six hits and zero runs. He did not walk a batter and struck out six.

Brandyn Olsen pitched the final inning retiring all three batters he faced. He recorded one strikeout.

The Pirates scored all the runs they would need when four runners crossed home plate in the bottom of the second inning.

Talan Priester walked and stole second base to get things started for Blue Earth. A single by Logan O’Hara enabled Priester to advance to third base.

Priester scored on a wild pitch with Tanner Nawrocki at the plate with O’Hara advancing to second base. Nawrocki was then hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second base.

Peyton O’Hara reached first base on a fielder’s choice with Logan O’Hara going to third base and Nawrocki forced out at second base. A single to right field by Noah Morphew scored Logan O’Hara while Peyton O’Hara advanced to third base.

Noah Barnett reached on an error that allowed Morphew to move to second base and Peyton O’Hara to score the Pirates’ third run of the game. A single by Sukalski drove home Morphew with Blue Earth’s fourth run.

The Pirates added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. A single by Kade Hobbs and walks to Peyton O’Hara and Barnett loaded the bases. Hobbs scored on a hit by Sukalski with O’Hara out at third base. Barnett came around to score on a hit by Kaylan Legred.

Both teams had six hits and three errors. Sukalski finished with two runs batted in.

Blue Earth 4,

Waterville 1

Veteran pitcher Lee Hodges scattered nine hits through nine innings of work while allowing one earned run in the Pirates’ 4-1 triumph over the Waterville Indians on Saturday, July 11.

Hodges’ masterful pitching performance included 10 strikeouts while he did not yield a walk. He threw a total of 128 pitches and 88 were thrown for strikes.

Blue Earth took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Lead-off batter Noah Barnett reached first base on a bunt single. One out later, Kaylan Legred reached first base on an error by the Indians’ second baseman with Barnett safe at second base.

Waterville got the second out of the inning on an infield pop out before Parker Meyers singled to score Barnett and give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

The Indians scored their lone run in the top of the fifth inning to make it a 1-1 game. However, the Pirates regained the lead in their half of the fifth inning with two runs to take a 3-1 lead.

Barnett once again got things going for Blue Earth in the fifth inning with another lead-off single. He advanced to second base on a passed ball. Waterville recorded a fly out for their first out of the inning. Legred then hit an infield single to the shortstop with Barnett holding at second base.

A ground out to the pitcher off the bat of Brandyn Olsen advanced the runners with Barnett going to third base and Legred checking in at second.

Meyers was intentionally walked to load the bases to bring up Talan Priester. The Pirates’ center fielder delivered a clutch two-out single to left field to score both Barnett and Legred and give Blue Earth a 3-1 lead.

The Pirates scored their fourth run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a lead-off home run by Hunter Bleess over the center-field fence.

Waterville and Blue Earth each finished with nine hits. The Indians committed two errors while the Pirates did not have any.

Meyers finished with three hits and Barnett had two. Priester led the team with two runs batted in. The home run by Bleess was Blue Earth’s only extra-base hit of the contest.

Blue Earth traveled to Cleveland for a game on July 15. They will host Albert Lea on Sunday, July 19 at 2 p.m. and go on the road to take on Minnesota Lake at Bud Kroenke Field for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday, July 22. They are scheduled to take on the Waseca Braves at Tink Larson Community Field in Waseca on Saturday, July 25, at 2 p.m.

Look for stories on those games in upcoming editions of the Faribault County Register.