by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls scored all the runs it would need in the first two innings in a 4-2 win over a strong Red Lake County Rebels squad Thursday afternoon at Prowler Field.
“It was a really good win for us,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Xavier Gonzales. “They had beaten us the last two years and beating them was a goal for this year. Now, hopefully we can use that victory and the last couple of weeks – winning 9 out of 11 – with only losing two one-run games. Confidence booster I hope leading into Tuesday’s DH with Esko and Marshall. Will be a big test.”
Thief River Falls starter Bodhi Mossestad pitched around a one-out double by Gunnar Halverson in the top of the first inning. Then the Prowlers went to work in the bottom half of the inning.
Gannon Zutz led off the at-bat with a single to right and scored on an RBI double by Noah Gonzales. Gonzales’ courtesy runner, Joe Kelly, advanced to third on a passed ball and number three hitter Bridger Wilcox drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on the corners.
Red Lake County starter Boe Nelson struck out Mossestad for the first out of the inning, but not before Wilcox stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Jaxon Hams flew out to left, with Kelly tagging up and scoring to make the score 2-0, with Wilcox remaining at second.
Nelson nearly got out of the inning with just two runs allowed. Number six hitter Jameson Hurst hit a hard ground ball right at Red Lake County shortstop Will Gieseke, but the ball took a weird hop and went over Gieseke’s head into centerfield, with Wilcox scoring to make it 3-0.
Kaleb Mehrkens also reached base in the inning for the Prowlers on a hit by pitch, before the inning came to an end on a flyball to rightfield by Wade Nelson.
The Prowlers added to their lead in the bottom of the second. Landon Wikert led off the inning with a single to short but was caught stealing. With the bases empty, Zutz singled to left. Gonzales followed Zutz with a base hit to center, with an error by Ben Gullingsrud that allowed Zutz to score the fourth run of the game for the Prowlers.
“We were able to hit Nelson early and score some runs in the first two innings,” Gonzales said. “Really good start for us. Thought we would continue throughout the day but Nelson made an adjustment on the mound and we did not.”
After facing 11 batters in the first inning and a third, Nelson shut the Prowlers down over the final four and two-thirds innings. He struck out the final two batters in the second inning, retired the side in order in the third, pitched around two singles in the fourth, pitched around a leadoff single in the fifth, and pitched around a two-out error in the sixth.
Mossestad was on cruise control for most of the game but he ran into some trouble in the fifth inning. Mossestad hit Brock Seeger to lead off the fifth. He gave up a single to Brock Knott that allowed Seeger to move up to second, and he hit Dawson Erickson to load the bases. Mossestad struck out Colin Taggert for the first out of the inning.
Denny Lanctot reached on an error that allowed Seeger to score, with Knott and Erickson moving to third and second, respectively. Gieseke grounded into a fielder’s choice at second, with Wikert tossing to Zutz for the out. Knott scored on the play, Erickson moved to third and Gieseke reached base.
With the bases still loaded, Mossestad got Gunnar Halverson to strikeout to end the threat.
Mossestad retired the side in order in the sixth. The Rebels put two runners on in the seventh, but Mossestad struck out Lanctot and got Gieseke to groundout to second to end the game.
Mossestad struck out 10 and allowed just one earned run in his seven innings of work.
“That was Bodhi’s second complete game of the year but he has been able to go deep in all of his starts,” Gonzales said. “Low walk count gives him the ability to last longer with pitch counts. Bodhi seems to have an inning that doesn’t go as smoothly as the rest of the game but is able to work his way out.
“Defensively, we played one of our better games of the year. Only one error. Red Lake County was scrappy and put balls in play and we were fortunate enough to make plays behind Bodhi.”
The Prowlers improved to 11-6 with the win, while the Rebels dropped to 14-3.
Scoring
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
RLC 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 – 2 3 4
TRF 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 4 9 1
Batting
Red Lake County AB R H RBI BB SO
Will Gieseke SS 4 0 0 1 0 1
G. Halverson LF 3 0 1 0 0 1
Ben Gullingsrud CF 3 0 0 0 0 2
Kegan Schmitz 1B 3 0 0 0 0 1
Brock Seeger RF 2 1 0 0 0 0
Brock Knott 3B 3 1 1 0 0 1
Riley Broden 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dawson Erickson 2B 1 0 0 0 0 1
Colin Taggert C 2 0 0 0 0 1
Owen Chervestad 1 0 1 0 0 0
Denny Lanctot DH 3 0 0 1 0 2
Totals 25 2 3 2 0 10
Highlights – HBP: Cain Cardinal, Dawson Erickson, Brock Seeger; 2B: Gunnar Halverson.
Thief River Falls AB R H RBI BB SO
Gannon Zutz SS 4 2 2 0 0 1
Noah Gonzales C 4 0 3 1 0 0
Bridger Wilcox CF 2 1 0 0 1 1
Bodhi Mossestad P 3 0 1 0 0 2
Jaxon Hams 3B 3 0 0 1 0 1
Dylan Osowski RF 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jameson Hurst LF 3 0 1 1 0 0
K. Mehrkens RF, 3B 2 0 0 0 0 0
Wade Nelson 1B 2 0 0 0 0 1
Knute Hams 1B 1 0 0 0 0 1
Landon Wikert 2B 3 0 2 0 0 0
Totals 27 4 9 3 1 7
Highlights – SB: Joe Kelly, Landon Wikert, Bridger Wilcox; 2B: Noah Gonzales; HBP: Kaleb Mehrkens.
Pitching
Red Lake County IP H R ER BB SO
Boe Nelson – L 6.0 9 4 3 1 7
Thief River Falls IP H R ER BB SO
Bodhi Mossestad-W 7.0 3 2 1 0 10