Helget, launching leading horsemen to sweep away the Indians | News, sports, jobs
SLEEPY EYE – With two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Talan Helget hit a double to bring home Jon Petermann for the first round of a Tomahawk Conference baseball game against Sleepy Eye.
That run ended up being the difference in the game, as the Knights won 1-0 on Friday.
The game was the first of a doubleheader that St. Mary’s won with a 4-3 victory in Game 2.
Game 1 was a pitching pairing between Sleepy Eye’s Winsten Nienhaus and St. Mary’s Mark Anderson for most of the game. But while Anderson was replaced by Helget in the sixth inning after surrendering just three hits, Nienhaus remained in the game until eight, giving up five hits, including the game-winner, in the final two innings.
Helget got the win on the mound, pitching 2 1/3 innings in relief, allowing no hits and striking out one. Anderson had eight strikeouts in the start.
Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye’s Cole Eckstein takes the lead off second during a Tomahawk Conference baseball game against Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s on Friday at Sleepy Eye Ballpark.
At the plate for the Knights, Petermann and Brandon Schmitz went 2 for 4, with Petermann scoring a run while Helget had an RBI double.
Nienhaus was overwhelmed by the loss to Sleepy Eye, striking out six and allowing nine hits and one earned run. At the plate, Nienhaus also had a hit and a stolen base, while Isaac Lendt and Carson Uecker each had a hit.
After allowing a single to Schmitz in the first inning, Nienhaus and the Sleepy Eye defense recorded 10 consecutive strikeouts, including a three-hit second frame. However, Anderson was displaying similar dominance for St. Mary’s, with only Caden Evers and Carson Uecker achieving scoring position through the first five innings.
Kessler Severson was the first to reach scoring position for the Knights on a double in the fifth, but a double out left him stranded there. Sleepy Eye threatened to score in the sixth when Lendt came to third after a single, a bunt and a wild pitch, but Helget was brought in to mop up, getting a groundout to end the inning.
Neither team managed a run through seven innings, so the eighth inning began with Sleepy Eye on defense. While Nienhaus got two outs to start the inning, Petermann, Schmitz and Helget combined for three straight hits, including Helget’s RBI double. Cody Schultz came up for a strikeout to end the inning, but the damage was done and Sleepy Eye was unable to respond with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Instead, Helget led a 1-2-3 inning to claim the victory.
Schmitz took the lead in Game 2 for the Knights, pitching a complete game in the 4-3 victory. Schmitz had four strikeouts and allowed three earned runs on 11 hits. At the Knights’ plate, Helget once again was the leader, going 2 for 2 with an RBI. Schmitz and Anderson each had an RBI in the game.
Lendt took the loss for Sleepy Eye, pitching six strikeouts and allowing two earned runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Austin Uecker led the team at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Schultz had a hit and two RBIs. Lendt also had an RBI in the game, while Kaden Klein and Gavin Strong each had two hits.
Mary’s will host Springfield on Monday. Sleepy Eye will travel to Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Monday.
