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The field for this weekend’s Winona Legion/Winona State University Baseball Classic includes three teams ranked in statewide polls from Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as players from four spring season state tournament competitors.
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Winona's Jake Walther completes a catch tagging Rochester's Ben Van Vooren out during the first inning Saturday in Winona. (Photo by Paul Solberg/Winona Daily News) |
Through two days of play, the Rochester Patriots have ascended to the top of the elite hierarchy, posting 12 no-hit innings in two convincing wins to start the tournament.
The LeJetz snapped the Patriots no-hit streak but couldn’t slow the red, white and blue machine in a 5-1 loss Saturday at Loughrey Field. The loss dropped the host LeJetz (6-5) to 0-2 in tournament play, while the Patriots improved to 3-0, one win from clinching the tournament title.
“So far we’ve played two good teams and we’ll probably see two more tomorrow,” LeJetz coach Gary Hoeppner said. “But the Rochester Patriots are probably the cream of the crop. They’re playing good baseball. They do it all.”
After a seven-inning no-hitter by Rochester’s Derek Hovick against Wisconsin Class AAA No. 8 La Crosse on Friday and a five-inning, no-hitter by Andrew Roble against Wisconsin Class AA No. 1 Beaver Dam early Saturday, Winona’s Jake Wanek broke up the Patriots’ remarkable streak with a first-inning single off the third-base bag.
Ryan Speltz followed Wanek’s hit with another single, but after Rochester pitcher Ben Moen wriggled out of the inning, the LeJetz rallies were touch-and-go at best the rest of the way.
“Out of our whole team I probably hit the ball the weakest,” said Wanek, who finished 2-for-3 with nearly half of Winona’s five hits. “I just got lucky and found some spots. You’re going to have days like that where you’re hitting the ball hard, it’s just right at them. Other days they’re going to drop. It’s part of the game, you just have to work through it.”
The No. 6 ranked Patriots took the lead early, going up 2-0 in the top of the first on a two-run home run from Brian Anderson. Anderson finished 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs and two RBIs, while Hovick went 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs and an RBI to lead Rochester.
Jake Walther scored the LeJetz only run in the third on a Wanek double-play groundout.
“It’s tough,” Walther said. “But we just have to bounce back and come out strong the next day. We can either have our heads down and play sloppy, or we can come in and try to take two and make something happen.”
The LeJetz will play back-to-back games to close out the tournament, facing Beaver Dam at 1 p.m. and La Crosse at 3:30 p.m. today at Loughrey Field.
