Blue Anchors Complete Perfect Homestand with Win over Stingers

July 5, 2013 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Alexandria Blue Anchors News Release


Alexandria, Minn. - The Alexandria Blue Anchors came back to beat the Willmar Stingers 10-9 Thursday night at Knute Nelson Memorial Park to give them a 3-0 home stand. The win gives the Anchors a 1-0 record in the second half and a record of 11-24 overall in 2013.

Alexandria grabbed an early lead against the Stingers' starter Zack Tillery in the first. Georgie Salem singled to start the inning and stole second base. A groundout by Kris Goodman moved Salem to third and a base hit by Andrew Sohn gave the Anchors a 1-0 advantage.

The Anchors extended their lead in the bottom of the third. Sohn singled with one out and moved to second on an Albert Baur ground ball. Ryan Blanchard singled to right-center bringing home Sohn giving Alexandria a 2-0 lead.

The Stingers used the long ball to grab the lead in the top of the fourth against the Blue Anchor starter Hunter Newman. Max Kuhn started the inning off with a solo homer cutting the Anchors lead to 2-1. After a strikeout, Danny Brennan lined a ball into centerfield for another solo homer to tie the score at two. Logan Moon followed with a single and came home on a double by the Stinger catcher Chris Barnett to give Willmar the lead 3-2. Alec Sole drew a walk to put two runners on and Tyler Leffler lifted a ball deep into right-center field for a three-run homer extended the Stingers lead to 6-2. Another strikeout for Newman gave him two outs in the inning but Michael Suchy lined a 1-2 offering deep into centerfield for another solo homer and Willmar led 7-2.

Scott Sanderson came in relief for the Blue Anchors and allowed base hits to Barnett, pinch-hitter Max Dutto and Tyler Leffler to start the inning. Marc Flores grounded into a double play that brought home Barnett extended the Stingers' lead to 8-2.

The Stingers saw their lead shrink in the bottom of the seventh. Tyler Curtis singled on a ground ball to second base bringing up Dalton Leuschke who lifted a ball deep over the centerfield wall making the score in favor of Willmar 8-4. Chris Kubitz came in after Tillery walked Goodman. The first pitch by Kubitz to Sohn was lined to the left-center wall scoring Goodman. Baur lined a single to left putting runners on the corners and Tim Cusick lined a double to right field bringing home Sohn, cutting the Anchors' deficit to 8-6.

The bats kept waking up as the game went along for the Blue Anchors. Curtis walked to start the inning and went to second on a single by Leuschke. Salem bunted both runners into scoring position and Goodman singled both runners home to tie the score at eight. With Goodman moving to second on the throw, Sohn lined a pitch from TJ Whidby deep to center giving the Blue Anchors the lead 10-8.

In the top of the ninth, Willmar put together one last rally attempt against closer Jose Cardona. Suchy walked to start the inning and went to second on a ground out by Kuhn. A wild pitch by Cardona put Suchy at third and he was brought home on a single by Nick Halamandaris cutting the Anchors' lead to 10-9. The next batter, Danny Brennan, grounded into a double play to end the game giving Alexandria a perfect three-game home stand.

Newman lasted four innings for the Blue Anchors giving up seven runs on nine hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Brandon Johnson pitched a scoreless fifth allowing just one hit. In one inning of work, Sanderson allowed one run on three hits and a hit batter. Ty Walker had a fine outing pitching one scoreless allowing just a base hit. Picking up the victory was Ross Slaney (1-1) in one inning allowing just a walk. Cardona made things interesting in the ninth, but got the save, allowing one run on a hit and one walk.

Minnesota Baseball Academy Player of the Game - Andrew Sohn (SS) - The Western Michigan shortstop supplied most of the offense for the Blue Anchors in their comeback victory. In five trips to the plate, he had four hits, three runs scored and four RBI. His biggest hit came in the bottom of the eighth as his homer put the Anchors up 10-8.

Notes: This is the Blue Anchors first win against Willmar in 2013...Cardona continued his streak of perfect saves as he is four-for-four...The homer for Leuschke was his second of the year, both coming at home...Sohn now has a six game hitting streak...For the second game in a row, all Blue Anchor batters had a hit...The Anchors have Friday off and then head to Duluth for two games against the Duluth Huskies...Starting on Saturday is Mickie Keuning (1-1, 9.00)...The first game is set for a 6:35 p.m. start and can be seen live at www.youtube.com/user/NorthwoodsLeague.



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