| 6/5/05 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
| Winthrop | 0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
| Belle Plaine (3-9, 2-4) | 0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
4 |
X |
11 |
12 |
1 |
Winthrop came into Sunday night’s game at Tiger Park with a 1-8 record, but the home team wasn’t buying it. That is a similar backdrop to how the Eagles have entered the playoffs the last few years, both times only to get hot and dispatch the Tigers accordingly.
Dave Kreft, the man in charge of the town team feeder program at BPHS, drew the starting assignment on the hill. He was buoyed by one of the Tigers most complete lineups to date, meaning Madison, WI resident and defensive star, Adam Hoffman, was present and in place at second base.
Things looked eerily familiar when Winthrop broke up a scoreless game in the fourth, making it 1-0 and threatening for more. But a dandy 6-4-3 double play – from Dhaene to Hoffman to Zip Zellmann – helped the Tigers escape further trouble.
The double play may have been a pick-me-up, as the Tigers roared to a seven-run fourth inning, chasing starter Jesse Erdal and batting eleven men in the process. Team Tigertown got it going again in the sixth, plating four before third base coach Brett “Dale Sveum” Kruschke waived in Kreft, where he was throw out by only about 50 feet, ending the rally.
Kreft dusted himself off and finished the five-hitter, the game ending early via the ten-run rule. The krefty I mean crafty veteran has allowed only three earned runs in 27 innings this year, good for a 1.00 ERA. He’s also a really neat guy, and when he plunks other batters, he totally doesn’t mean for it to hurt.
Perhaps the “most important thing” (ala ESPN’s Baseball Tonight) is that after having back-to-back four error games, the Tiger defense has tightened up and posted just one each game, over the last two.
| Belle Plaine TIGERS (3-9, 2-4) | ||||||
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
BB |
Avg. |
|
| Huber, rf | 4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
.289 |
| Dhaene, ss | 3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
.231 |
| P. Schultz, c | 3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
.325 |
| Weldon, cf | 4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
.325 |
| Kreft, p | 2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.167 |
| Zellmann, 1b | 3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
.250 |
| Thiesfeldt, 3b | 4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.132 |
| Schuster, lf | 3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
.172 |
| A. Hoffman, 2b | 3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
.286 |
| TOTALS | 29 |
11 |
12 |
11 |
1 |
.414 |
| 2B –Dhaene, P.Schultz, Kreft. 3B – none. HR –none. | ||||||
| HBP – Dhaene, Kreft 2, Schuster. SB –Huber. | ||||||
| Pitcher | IP |
H |
R/ER |
BB/K |
NP |
ERA |
| Kreft (W, 2-0) | 7 |
5 |
1/1 |
5/4 |
113 |
1.00 |
This page was created and maintained by Nick Kornder, Sports Information Director at Northern State University. The views and ideas on this page are that of the author, and not those of Northern State University.