​•No-hitter comes one day after upsetting 9-8 loss to Milroy Yankees

By Byron Higgin

Mascot Sports Editor

 

Jake Leighton comes from good baseball stock. His dad is called, “Mr. 500” in South Dakota for his over 520 amateur baseball home runs.

Saturday, Jake Leighton  put his own mark on amateur baseball when he pitched  a seven-inning no hitter in a 12-0 Mudhen win over Tracy.

Leighton, who pitched for SMSU in Marshall had to get special approval from the Minnesota Amateur Baseball League to pitch at Minneota since college players are not allowed to play outside the college town. But Leighton is graduating, lives in Ghent and was approved.

Saturday he breezed through the Tracy Express like a hot knife through butter and struck out nine batters. The only baserunners were two walks he issued in the fifth and seventh innings. One was wiped out by a double play started by shortstop Preston Nuy.

“In high school I threw a no hitter in our state tournament,” said Leighton. But he hadn’t thrown another until now. “Everyone (you pitch) is awesome,” Leighton said.

Perhaps the special part came from the fact that Leighton had a brand new catcher to throw to — Canby native Noah Scott. “My catcher called a great game. He did a great job. I think I shook him off once the whole game. For a new guy, he did a great job.”

Scott was inserted into the lineup because Jesse Drager hurt the heel of his foot the night before against the Milroy Yankees. 

He hurt it on first base after bunting and trying to beat it out.

Scott not only got into the starting lineup because he was needed, but came at the right time and delivered a single for his first Mudhen hit and knocked in his first run. “The first of many,” said Manager Tyson Sonnenburg as he congratulated Scott.

Leighton was enjoying his time with the Mudhens already and in his first three games he’s thrown a no-hitter and is hitting, .500 with seven hits in 14 trips to the plate. He’s knocked in six runs and scored four.

“Everyone’s doing their part and I’m having a lot of fun,” was his assessment of the team so far.

As for the no-hitter, “I wasn’t paying attention. Then someone said in seventh I had a no hitter and I said, ‘“Why did you say that?’”

He laughed, but went out and finished the job in the seventh.

Despite the fact Minneota lost to the Milroy Yankees a night earlier, 9-8, Leighton enjoyed a, “Great game last night.”

The Mudhens, short players for a variety of reasons, also got their first game with high school senior Alex Pohlen in the lineup. Pohlen went 1-2 with a double that drove in two runs, he scored twice and walked twice.

“We got Alex signed up this week,” said Manager Sonnenburg.

Also holding a hot bat so far is Danny Hennen. Playing first base when he isn’t hitting, he ripped off two more doubles against Tracy, knocked in three runs and scored twice.

Hennen is hitting .556, with five hits in nine trips with four doubles.

The Mudhens are 2-1 after the first three games and play at home Wednesday against Granite Falls and again at 5 p.m. Sunday at Milroy against the Yankees.

 

Minneota 12, Tracy 0 (7 innings)

MINNEOTA (AB-R-H-RBI) Beau Buysse, 2b 3-1-0-1; Preston Nuy, ss 4-1-1-0; Tyson Sonnenburg, cf 2-2-0-0; Jake Leighton, p 5-2-3-0; Austin Buysse, 3b 3-1-1-0; Bryce Gorder, 3b 1-0-0-0; Danny Hennen, 1b 2-2-2-3; Alex Pohlen, lf 2-2-1-2; Noah Scott, c 2-1-1-1; Jordan Beck, rf 4-0-1-0. Totals 28-12-10-7.

TRACY (AB-R-J-RBI) Tanner Phelps, ss 3-0-0-0; Cory Apperson, lf-p 3-0-0-0; Shane Erickson, c 2-0-0-0; Jordan Lenoue, p-2b  3-0-0-0; Derek Radke, 3b 1-0-0-0; Anthony Rohlik, 1b 2-0-0-0; James Fultz. 2b 2-0-0-0; Brian Fultz, cf 0-0-0-0; Travis Appelson, dh 2-0-0-0; Mike Solheim, rf 2-0-0-0; Joe Bretschneider, p 0-0-0-0. Totals 20-0-0-0.

Score by Innings

Minneota        010 421 4 — 12  10  0

Tracy            000 000 0 — 0    0    2

E-Tracy: Radke 2. LOB-Minneota 8; Tracy 1. SB-Minneota: Beau Buysse. SAC-Minneota:Beau Buysse, Hennen. DP-Minneota 6-3 (3); 6-4-3 (7); Tracy 6-4-3 (5). 2B-Danny Hennen 2; Jake Leighton, Alex Pohlen.

Pitching            IP    R    ER    H    BB    K

Minneota

Jake Leighton (W)        7     0     0       0     2      9

Tracy

Jordan Lanoue (L)        5     7     7       9     4      3

C. Apperson         1.2  5     2       1     4      0

Joe Bretschneider        0.1  0     0       0     0      0

HP-Sonnenburg, Scott, Pohlen (by Apperson). WP-Apperson.

 

 

Too much Matt Bauer

There was just too much Matt Bauer.

The Milroy Yankee slugger not only went 5-5 with a pair of doubles and four runs batted in, but he also walked and scored.

With the game on the line in the ninth inning, and Minneota still ahead 8-7 — reliever Peyton Nuy was facing a two-men on, one out situation as Bauer stroke to the plate.

The veteran belted a one-strike Nuy fastball into deep right-centerfield. It landed safely, Derrick Walker scored to tie the game and Andy Schmitt waltzed home with the leading run, 9-8.

Milroy Manager Ryan Rohlik, not wanting the game to slip away, inserted one of his two aces, Nathan Duetz. The left struck out the side to end Minneota’s upset bid.

“You played a great game,” Manager Tyson Sonnenburg said. “There’s nothing to hang your head about. This is a great team with a great tradition and you nearly beat them.”

The game meant a lot to Minneota. Knowing the deep state tournament tradition of the Yankees and the fact they turned Milroy into a true “baseball” town, meant beating them would be a great gage for the upcoming season.

And they nearly did it. And no fault to Nuy, who just happened to be in Matt Bauer’s way. Nuy, subbing for starting shortstop Adam Durfee (at school at Augustana), he made several nice plays at shorts. Once he turned a double play and another time threw a long strike to first base to nip the runner.

“You did a great job,” Sonnenburg told Nuy. “It wasn’t your fault.”

The Mudhens went ahead 3-1 in the fifth when Jake Leighton singled in a run and a groundout by Austin Buysse brought in another.

The Yankees responded with three runs in the fifth, with Bauer in the middle of that along with Andrew Mathiowetz and Brian Dolan, all of whom singled.

They got two more in the seventh on a two-run double by Bauer and led 6-3. But in the eighth Minneota exploded for a four-run rally off Bauer, who had relieved Austin Duetz.

Four Milroy errors added the rally as Jordan Beck got the only hit in the inning.

Danny Hennen and Zach Nuy had set up the Mudhens for victory but in the ninth the ball was put into Peyton Nuy’s hands — and he nearly pulled it off.

For the Mudhens, Jake Leighton was 3-5 with three runs batted in and a run scored.

 

Milroy Yankees 9, Minneota Mudhens 8

MINNEOTA (AB-R-H-RBI) Beau Buysse, 2b 2-1-0-0; Cal Swedzinski, 2b 0-1-0-0; Jesse Drager, c 3-1-0-0; Bryce Gorder, 3b 2-0-0-0; Tyson Sonnenburg, cf 3-0-1-0; Jake Leighton, lf 3-2-3-3; Austin Buysse, 3b-c 4-0-1-1; Danny Hennen, p-1b 4-0-1-1; Preston Nuy, ss-p 5-0-0-0; Al Christensen, dh 3-0-0-0; Jordan Beck, lf-ss 3-0-0-0; Brock Buysse, rf 4-1-0-0; Drew Fadness, ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 38-8-6-4.

MILROY YANKEES (AB-R-H-RBI) Brian Dolan, dh 2-0-0-0; Austin Duetz, 0-1-0-0; Derrick Walker, c 3-1-2-0; Andy Schmitt, rf 4-2-1-1; Matt Bauer, c-p 5-2-5-4; Riley Carpenter, 3b 6-0-0-0; Eric Dolan, 2b 2-0-0-0; Zach Felcyn, 2b 2-0-0-0; Braydin Kvistro, lf 5-0-2-0; Austin Kretch, ss 5-0-0-0; Nathan Duetz, 1b-p 5-2-2-0; Andrew Mathiowetz, cf 4-1-1-1. Totals 43-9-13-6.

Score by Innings

Milroy             001 003 203 — 9 13 6

Minneota        000 120 140 — 8 6   3

E-Minneota: A. Buysse 2, Beck 1; Milroy: Carpenter 5, Kretsch. LOB-Minneota 9; Milroy 15. SAC-Minneota: Swedzinski; Milroy: Mathiowetz. DP-Minneota 6-3 (8); Milroy 4-6-3 (1). 2B-Minneota: A. Buysse, D. Hennen; Milroy: Bauer 2, Kvistro.

Pitching                          IP    R    ER   H   BB   K

Minneota

Danny Hennen               5.1   4    4      7     3     7   

Zach Nuy                        2.1   2    2      3     1     1

Peyton Nuyh (L)             1      3    3      3     0     1

Milroy

Austin Duetz                   4      3     2     3      1    4

Bauer (W)                       4      5     1     4      3    6

Nathan Duetz (S)            1      0     0     0      0    3

HP-Sonnenburg (by Bauer); Eric Dolan, Kretsch (by Hennen). WP-Zach Nuy, Bauer, A. Duetz.