Hollanders Back in Swing of Things

After what was has turned out to be a very wet May, the weather finally let up and allowed the Hollanders to get back out on the field. Cologne was able to play four games in five days, and since this writer was on vacation all last week you're going to get four recaps right meow. 

After two weeks off the Hollanders "reopened" their season against the formidable St Patrick Irish. As expected, Cologne had some webs to shake off. Zack Nelson started on the hill for the Hollanders. Zack went 2-1/3 innings giving up three unearned runs off of one hit and six walks. Alex Eichner followed up Nelson and pitched 2-2/3 innings giving up three earned runs off of five hits and two walks. From there it was pitching by committee. Rookie Torben Urdahl threw one inning giving up no runs on one hit, no walks and striking out two. Tanner Luebke threw the eighth. He gave up zero runs with no hits, two freebies, and one strikeout. Casey Clemensen got an inning of work in as he threw the ninth. Casey gave up zero runs with zero hits, zero walks, and struck out two. The Hollander offense was a little sluggish as well as the team only managed five hits during the game. Carter Clemensen had the only multi-game with two singles and an RBI. Brandon Fritz reached base twice during the game with a single and a hit by pitch. Torben managed to get his first career Hollander hit with a double in the seventh inning. Kyle Brazil got his first AB since his injury and made the most of it by blasting a line drive over the right field wall for his second homerun of the season. The Hollanders lost the non-league contest by a score of six to two.

Cologne was back at CRVL league play Friday night when they hosted the Watertown Red Devils. The boys came ready to play that night in a game that already had a must win feel. After his great initial outing against Hamburg, Christian Johnson was back on the hill making his second start. Christian walked the lead-off batter and would eventually score after a double by Pat Tschida and a wild pitch. Tschida then scored after an RBI groundout. After giving up two runs in the top of the first, the Hollanders responded with a bang. Tanner led off with a single and Casey Clemensen reached first base on an error. With two on and no out, Carter Clemensen hit a liner down the first line. Watertown's first baseman snagged the liner and doubled up Casey at first. Kyle Brazil then tied the game with one swing as he put a Tschida fastball over the right field fence for his second homerun in two at-bats (Brazil's third HR of the season).  From that point the game was all Cologne as Christian did not allow another Watertown run for the rest of the game. For the sake of accuracy, Watertown saw only one more guy make it to second base for the next eight innings. Cologne managed to break the stalemate during the fourth with Carter leading off the inning with a double and then stole third. Joey Lilya came up with the big RBI single and managed to reach third after a single by Austin Pysick. Joey scored the second run of the inning on a wild pitch. Two more insurance runs came during the seventh inning after Fritz got hit by a pitch, Casey drew a walk, and two RBI singles by Carter and Brazil. Carter, Brazil, and Joey all got two hits while Tanner, Austin and Joey each got one hit during the night game. Christian Johnson shined on the mound as he pitched all nine innings giving up only two runs while giving up only two hits, five walks, and picking up ten strikeouts and the W.

The boys were right back in Saturday afternoon as the Milroy Yankees came to town. The offense scored early and often. Two runs were scored in the first as Tanner reached first on the HBP and stole second. Carter knocked in Tanner with an RBI double, and Brazil traded spots with Carter as he hit an RBI double. The second inning added two more runs when Fritz singled, Luke Lamberton reach on an error. Casey Clemensen plated both Fritz and Luke with a single. Two more runs were added to the total during the fourth when newbie Wilson Moore lead off with a walk and Carter shot his season's first homerun for the two-run bombski. One more run was added in the sixth after a walk and a steal by Tanner and another RBI single for Carter. Torben Urdahl and Zack Nelson each got hits during the seventh to add another run to the board. The Hollanders managed ten hits on the day. Carter managed four hits with one double and one homerun. Casey, Brazil, Jon Kummer, Kyle Twait, Fritz, and Nelson all got one hit. Luebke scored two runs with a walk and a HBP with two stolen bases. The Hollanders threw three pitchers during the game and all threw very well. Joey Lilya started the game and went four innings giving up zero runs off of three hits and two walks. Kyle twait followed Lilya and went 2-2/3 innings giving up zero runs off of two hits. Carter Clemensen finished off the game throwing 1-1/3 innings.

Sunday brought another CRVL game as the Hollanders traveled to play the Brownton Bruins. The 11 innings game was a hard fought battle. Casey Clemensen started on the mound for Cologne and threw eight great innings. Casey only allowed one run (earned) off of six hits and two hit batters. Alex Eichner was in relief for the ninth and extra innings. Eichner also threw well during his two innings, but a timly Bruin hit, a wild pitch, and the only Hollander error is all it took for Brownton to come out on top during the 11th inning. Tim Swanson led the offense during the afternoon with three hits including a double and the sacrifice bunt that would score Twait as the only Hollander run. Anthony Brenner, Jon Kummer, and Joey Lilya all got two hits during the game to sum up Cologne's ten hits. Cologne's offense just couldn't get the string of hits to score. There were plenty of chances to score, but good Brownton pitching and defense thwarted most of Cologne's opportunities. 

Up next... Cologne will be playing the Chaksa Cubs and Chaska's Athletic Park on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm. After that, the Hollanders will be playing in the New Prague tournament during the weekend. The Hollanders will start the tournament by playing the St Anthony Hogs at 8:30pm in New Prague. Hope to see y'all at the ballpark.

Ga Hollanders!