FOSSTON, Minn. -- Steven Lyseng gave up eight runs but survived to get a pitching win as Fosston defeated Norman County 10-8 this spring. Four days later, the Greyhounds beat Fertile-Beltrami 16-1 behind the pitching of Aanders Johnson.
Lyseng knew what would be coming next.
"We go back and forth all the time," Lyseng said. "He was giving me a hard time that he had a better earned run average. And I came back with, 'Yeah, but I have more strikeouts.' But then he'll come back with his hitting -- and he is a better hitter than me, no doubt about it.
"It's always something we're going back and forth about. It's always fun. We're good friends."
The right-handers are also two of the main reasons Fosston figures to make a run deep into the Minnesota Section 8A high school baseball playoffs this spring.
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Both were regular starting pitchers on last season's Greyhounds team that reached the 8A semifinals before being eliminated. This year, they've put up dominant numbers for the Greyhounds.
Lyseng, a junior, is 4-0 with a 1.46 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 24 innings. He's holding opponents to a .165 batting average. Johnson, a senior, is 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA, striking out 16 in 13 innings while holding opponents to a .235 average.
"Steve will overpower people," Fosston coach Ryan Hanlon said. "He throws hard, with a hard slider to go with his fastball. He throws harder than Aanders by quite a bit. Aanders locates his pitches really well and keeps hitters off balance. He throws a changeup, a knuckleball and a curve to go with his fastball."
Lyseng said coaches have told him that his fastball is in the low 80 mph range. Johnson isn't one who opponents would be tempted to put a radar gun on.
"I'm a fly-ball, ground-ball pitcher. I let my defense take care of things," Johnson said. "Steven is a can't-touch pitcher. We're both pretty good at what we do.
"Sometimes I'm jealous that I can't blow people out of the water like he does. But I like my style. You see hitters come up a little cocky, take a big swing at my knuckleball and miss it by a foot."
As for Lyseng's speed, "it's just something that comes natural," he said. "I stick with my fastball. I've always loved watching the guys who throw hard. To get the strikeouts, it's great."
The two styles make for a good combination.
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"We can come at teams with different looks," Hanlon said. "Teams have to try to get out ahead of Steve on their swing because he throws so hard. Then Aanders comes in and keeps teams off balance with his stuff."
While the two enjoy getting on each other's case, they're close friends. And they also appreciate having each other on the same pitching staff.
"It allows us to be competitive in every game," Johnson said. "No matter who we play, we feel we have the potential to win. That doesn't mean we'll win every game. But we feel we can at least hold teams' runs down, and we have a good-hitting team ourselves."
Johnson leads that offense -- something Lyseng grudgingly concedes in their friendly war of words.
DeVillers reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1128; (800) 477-6572, ext. 128; or send e-mail to gdevillers@gfherald.com .
