East picks up two victories to open baseball playoffs – Mankato Free Press
NEW ULM — Mankato East took the lead in the first inning of the opening game and never trailed in the next 12 innings.
It’s the aggressive attitude that coach Cory Smith has been looking for all season, and he thinks the players have fully bought in for the postseason.
“A lot of times this season, when we had a lead, we’d relax,” Smith said. “It was good to see us keep going and not let up. These guys are hungry. They think they are better than the 5 seed, and they have something to prove.”
A 10-run third inning propelled East to a 15-3 victory over Worthington in the Section 2AAA baseball playoffs Thursday at Johnson Park. Earlier in the day, the Cougars defeated Waseca 4-2 in this unusual four-team play-in tournament to get to the section final four.
Baseball has added a four class this season, and being in Class AAA has given East, and other teams in the section, a lot more optimism as the tournament begins.
“My sophomore and junior years, we were eliminated right away,” senior Brady DesLauriers said. “We think the section finals are in our reach, the way we’re playing right now. We’re hitting the ball, and the pitchers were phenomenal.”
The Cougars put constant pressure on the Worthington defense early. In the first inning, DesLauriers led off with a sharp shot to left that was dropped for a two-base error. He later scored on Sam Ahrens’ sacrifice fly.
Tanner Stengel rocketed a lead-off double to open the second inning, and after a sacrifice bunt, Stengel scored on Alex Turner’s safety squeeze. After a couple of infield errors, Luke Makovsky roped a two-run double to right-center for a 4-0 lead.
After Worthington got two runs back, East kept attacking in a 10-run third inning. Stengel had two RBI singles, while Turner, Makovsky, Ahrens, Travis Stockman and Jackson Keller each picked up an RBI single as the lead grew to 15-3, which is where it ended after five innings.
“There’s no better feeling than getting two wins today,” DesLauriers said. “It’s good to couple some playoff wins.”
Makovsky got the win by pitching the first three innings, allowing three runs on four hits with four strikeouts. Jack Clifford finished up with two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.
“Guys believe we can win this,” Smith said. “There’s more energy at practice, and we think we can come out of this section. We just have to get hot at the right time.”
In the opener, Jay Beckman pitched a complete game as East defeated Waseca 4-2. He allowed five hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts. Only one run was earned.
Sam Ahrens and Alex Turner each had a hit and RBI as the Cougars scored twice in the first inning and never trailed. DesLauriers and Jackson Keller each had a hit and scored a run.
East plays at 2 p.m. Saturday at Johnson Park. Worthington is in a noon elimination game at Johnson Park against Waseca which eliminated Faribault 14-4.
“This was a confidence thing for us,” Smith said. “We didn’t finish the regular season like we wanted, but we think the conference schedule prepared us for this.”
Follow Chad Courrier on Twitter @ChadCourrier
