Insurance runs didn't seem to be a need for Thief River Falls, not after building leads of 12-1 and 14-3.
But Tuesday's in doubleheader slugfest, Dylan Manderud's 2-run single was a bit of a cushion. Manderud's hit gave the Prowlers a 16-13 lead, which proved to be the final score in the opening game of the Prowlers' doubleheader against East Grand Forks Senior High at Stauss Park.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Senior High scored five runs in each of the first three innings en route to a 16-12 win for the split.
"There was no comfort level,'' TRF coach Mike Gullingsrud said. "We figured we'd need as many runs as we could get.''
Senior High scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull within 14-13 and had the tying run thrown out at the plate.
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In the top of the sixth, Brenden Vigen drew a leadoff walk and went to third on Brady Hoffard's 1-out double. With the Senior High infield drawn in, Manderud grounded a single up the middle to drive in two.
Those were huge runs,'' Gullingsrud said. "Senior High had the heart of its order coming up in the bottom of the inning. They can hit. And they'd scored 13 already. You don't want just a 1-run lead.''
The Prowlers never trailed after scoring seven in the first inning. It was 12-1 in the middle of the third inning and 14-3 in the middle of the fourth. But Senior High rallied and 2-run doubles by Trevor Selk and Carter Beck highlighted the 7-run sixth that got the Green Wave within 14-13.
"The high score is not the norm for us,'' Gullingsrud said. "We've had a lot of low-scoring games. We don't expect 16-13. The weather, the wind, was a factor.''
Senior High entered the doubleheader having totaled 26 runs in its first eight games
"We found out today that we have the capability of scoring a lot of runs,'' Wave coach Anthony Walsh said. "We've been waiting for it to happen. You wouldn't think they'd need those last two runs. It was nice to see that our guys didn't quit.''
In the second game, Wyatt Swanson had three hits and Selk, Alex Mushitz, Donnie Musgrove, Cole Hammargren and Chance Borden two apiece for the Green Wave. Senior High had 13 hits in the first game and 16 in the second.
"That's definitely not a normal high school doubleheader,'' Walsh said.
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"Eleven hits was the most we'd had in a game before this. We found ways to score runs. It was the opposite side today, preventing runs, that hurt us.''
The split left the Prowlers, which totaled 28 hits in the two games, with a 6-4 record.
