It took East Grand Forks Senior High's aggressive baserunning and the command of Green Wave pitcher Michael Kinzler to hand East Grand Forks Sacred Heart its first loss.
Kinzler tossed six strong innings and struck out nine, while the Green Wave scored four runs on wild pitches en route to an 8-2 victory over the Eagles on Tuesday at Stauss Park.
Sacred Heart dropped to 7-1, while Senior High improved to 4-3.
Kinzler, a senior right-hander, didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning and avoided any big jams.
"Kinzler kept it around the plate and down in the zone," Senior High coach Garret Hjelle said. "His curve was missing early, but then he started to get that around the plate, too. When he throws that for strikes, he does a nice job keeping batters off balance."
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Kinzler gave way to reliever Daniel Thompson, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
The Green Wave pulled away in the fifth with a five-run inning, with four of those runs scoring with two outs. Sacred Heart starter Corey Roach ran into trouble with his control as three runners scored in the inning on wild pitches.
Senior High's ability to take extra bases and put pressure on the Eagles' defense was a major factor throughout.
"They had baserunners on in every inning," Sacred Heart coach Craig Pietruszewski said. "We know they have team speed and that's a disruptive element for them. We got caught up in that a little bit."
The Eagles received two-hit games from Zach Huot and Joe Kvidt, but Sacred Heart wasn't able to string together enough hits to put any pressure on the Wave late in the game.
"Give Kinzler credit," Pietruszewski said. "He pitched a good game and kept us off balance. We couldn't get quality at-bats like we did earlier in the season."
Senior High's offense finished with nine hits, led by Tyler Olson's 3-for-3 performance. Blake Larson, Kolton Aubol and Hunter Aubol each chipped in with two hits for the Green Wave.
The Wave also took advantage of some Sacred Heart defensive miscues.
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"To their credit, they made us pay on every one," Pietruszewski said. "In a nutshell, that was the ballgame."
Said Hjelle: "We took advantage of any little base we could get. That caused some problems out there."
Miller reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1121; (800) 477-6572, ext. 121; or send e-mail to tmiller@gfherald.com .
