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Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Friday, July 04, 2008

City roundup: Tofstad sparks Buddies to doubleheader sweep

By Winona Daily News staff

ALBERT LEA, Minn. — It didn’t take long for Steven Tofstad to make an impact.

Tofstad, playing in his first game with the Winona VFW Buddies baseball team, went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple Tuesday in the first game of Winona’s doubleheader sweep of Albert Lea.

Winona won the opener 6-2 and the nightcap 4-2.

“It was huge getting (Tofstad) back,” Winona coach Matt O’Brien said. “All of a sudden our lineup — 1 through 9 — is just stacked. We throw him in there, and he’s batting seventh when he’s a potential No. 3 hitter.”

Winona’s Brandon Stoos went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and Lance Jensen, Erik Chapman and Jake Filand each had two hits in Game 1.

Kyle Kowalewski went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Tommy Mullen went 2-for-3 with two doubles to lead the Buddies in the nightcap.

Winona’s pitching was just as good as its offense, highlighted by Brandon Beeach, who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of Game 2.

Winona pitchers struck out 12 and allowed just five hits on the day.

Softball

Winona 3-7, Owatonna 0-0

Brittany Duellman and Whitney Wisecup each pitched complete-game shutouts to lead the Winona WinStars 18-under softball team to the doubleheader sweep.

Duellman allowed three hits and struck out two in the opener, and Wisecup tossed a three-hitter and struck out four in the nightcap.

The games marked the third and fourth consecutive shutouts dealt by Winona pitchers.

Wisecup had an RBI single, and Kim Hawthorne delivered a two-run double in Game 1. Erica Hengel went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs for Winona in Game 2.