by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls senior Bodhi Mossestad struck out 15 Warroad hitters and did not allow a hit in the Prowlers’ 6-2 win over the Warriors Thursday, April 10 at the Multi-Events Center.
Thursday’s game was both the season- and home-opener for the Prowlers who are looking to build on a successful 2024 campaign that saw them reach the semifinal round and ultimately finish third in last year’s Section 8AA baseball playoffs.
“Bodhi Mossestad was fantastic in the first game of the year,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Xavier Gonzales. “Anytime you have 15Ks in a game is awesome, but the first game of the season, that is different. He threw a lot of first pitch strikes and every batter that started 0-1 made an out. That was what we were trying to instill in outlet pitching staff for this year. Played good baseball other than the fifth inning. We will not be able to have that kind of defensive inning versus the better teams if we are going to expect to win those games. Also, offensively, we only struck out 2 times and that was another major push for this year – Put the ball in play. Great start to the season.”
The Prowlers got on the board with two runs on in the bottom of the first inning. Joe Kelly drew a four-pitch walk to lead off the at-bat and number two hitter Noah Gonzalez was hit by the first pitch he saw. Both baserunners moved up a bag on a double steal, with Kelly scoring on a sacrifice fly by Bridger Wilcox. Gonzales also came around to score on a groundout to third by Jaxon Hams.
The Prowlers added to their lead with two runs on three hits in the fourth. Jameson Hurst coaxed a five-pitch walk from Warroad relief pitcher Brady Fast. Hurst stole second and scored on a base hit to right field by Mossestad. Logan Kriel, who entered the game as a courtesy runner for Mossestad, advanced from first to third on a double by Wade Nelson and later scored on a single by Gannon Zutz.
Mossestad struck out the side in the first inning. He fanned two Warroad batters in the second, and one in the third and fourth innings.
Trailing 4-0, three Warroad batters reached base on errors to load the bases with no outs in the top of the fifth. Mossestad struck out Fast for the first out. He hit Parker Lien to score Andrew Mayfield from third. Zach Rose also came around to score when leadoff hitter Ryan Chamernick hit into a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning. Mossestad got out of the jam by striking out Kason Pietruszewski for the third out.
After the scare in the fifth, Mossestad got back on track, striking out the side in the sixth and seventh innings.
Mossestad credited his curveball with keeping the Warroad hitters off balance. He primarily threw fastballs and curveballs to the Warroad hitters and was able to throw both pitches for strikes consistently.
“The curveball was working,” Mossestad said. “I was locating it well and getting it over the plate. We hit well and played good defense,” Mossestad said. “It was a good win.”
Scoring
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
WHS 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 – 2 0 1
TRF 2 0 0 2 2 0 X – 6 6 4
Batting
Warroad AB R H RBI BB SO
R. Chamernick (2B) 3 0 0 1 0 1
K. Pietruszewski(SS) 3 0 0 0 0 2
L. Grover (1B) 2 0 0 0 1 2
S. Hard (CF) 3 0 0 0 0 2
K. Thompson (P) 3 0 0 0 0 2
A. Mayfield 0 1 0 0 0 0
Z. Rose (C) 3 1 0 0 0 2
W. Schreiner (LF) 3 0 0 0 0 1
B. Fast (RF) 3 0 0 0 0 2
P. Lien (3B) 1 0 0 1 0 1
B. Hontvet (3B) 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 2 0 2 1 15
Highlights – HBP: P. Lien; SB: L. Grover.
Thief River Falls AB R H RBI BB SO
J. Kelly (RF) 2 1 0 0 1 0
A. Dalager (RF) 1 0 0 0 0 0
N. Gonzales (C) 3 1 1 0 0 0
B. Wilcox (CF) 4 1 1 1 0 0
J. Hams (3B) 4 0 0 1 0 1
J. Hurst (LF) 2 2 1 0 2 0
B. Mossestad (P) 2 0 1 1 1 0
L. Kriel 0 1 0 0 0 0
W. Nelson (1B) 1 0 1 0 2 0
G. Gonsorowski (1B) 0 0 0 0 0 0
L. Wikert (2B) 3 0 0 0 0 1
G. Zutz (SS) 3 0 1 1 0 0
Totals 25 6 6 4 6 2
Highlights – 2B: W. Nelson, B. Wilcox; HBP: N. Gonzales; SB: J. Hurst 3, J. Kelly, L. Kriel, N. Gonzales, G. Zutz.
Pitching
Warroad IP H R ER BB SO
K. Thompson – L 3.0 1 2 2 2 2
W. Schreiner 1.2 1 0 0 1 2
B. Fast 1.1 4 4 4 3 0
Thief River Falls IP H R ER BB SO
B. Mossestad – W 7.0 0 2 0 1 15