It was a hot and windy day in Searles as the Outlaws traveled to the small town field for a Saturday afternoon contest vs the Bullheads.  Weather was a factor on this day as the wind was blowing in with some extreme power.  All previous meetings between the two ball clubs have been very tight games so it promised to be a fun day. 

 

Scott Rummel took the hill for the Bullheads and quickly found himself in a bit of a 1st inning jam.  With one out Robb Larson continued his hot hitting by lining a single to left field.  Ryan Meyer followed Larson with a walk.  Mike Roth then singled to load the bases.  Rummel found his groove however and retired the next two Outlaw hitters to escape without giving up a run.

 

Jeff "Spanky" Miller was the pitcher of choice for the Outlaws and was looking to continue his scoreless inning pitched streak which sat at 21 coming into the game.  Miller would work a 1-2-3 home half and keep the Bullheads off the board through the first three frames.

 

Rummel also became unhittable as he set down the Outlaws in order in the 2nd and 3rd making it 8 set down in a row.

 

The scoring would begin in the 4th for both teams however.  With one out in the top of the 4th Mike Roth was hit by a pitch.  Grant Carson followed with a single, and Ryan Carlson followed his brother by being plunked in the left shoulder to load the bases.  Rummel again threatened to work out of the jam by securing the 2nd out by strikeout.  Jeff Appel then stepped to the plate and lined a two out knuckle ball to left field for a single.  Mike Roth scored from third on the play, and another would be run in Grant Carlson was not to be as he lost footing rounding third and was forced to scamper back to the bag.  Rummel limited the damage to 1 run as the Outlaws took the 1-0 advantage to the bottom of the 4th. 

 

The lead was short lived however as the Bullheads quickly battled back.  Doug Ekstrom opened the bottom of the 4th with a single and Scott Rummel helped his cause by doubling into the gap.  One batter later Kurt Thorson singled and the game was tied at 1 apiece.  I'm not sure if Rummel or Thorson drove in Ekstrom since our book doesn't say.  Either way...the game was knotted 1-1 heading to the 5th. 

With one out in the top of the 5th, Sam Baumgartner reached on a walk.  Robb Larson then collected his second hit of the day by rolling a grounder up the middle that reached the outfield.  Sammy never slowed down and dashed towards third base as the short-stop Ekstrom slid out and collected the ball.  Ekstrom threw a pee rod to third base and Bammy was called out on a close play.  Rummel then ended the inning by coaxing a fly ball to right field.

 

It didn't take long in the home half of the 5th inning for the Bullheads to secure their first lead of the day.  Todd Hulke led off the inning by blasting a solo homerun over the right field monster, putting the Searles crew up 2-1.  Miller went back to work after the bomb and limited the damage to one run.

 

Not to be outdone, "Magic" Mike Roth led off for the Outlaws in the top of the 6th.  Big Mikey blasted a pitch over the fence in deep right center and tied the game at 2-2 with a solo shot of his own.  Grant Carlson followed Roth with a double and it appeared the Outlaws were back in business.  After the the next two batters went down in order, Mike Ringnell reached on a base on balls, (He always gets on base!) but the next hitter was retired to end the inning. 

 

Jeff Miller tamed the Bullheads in the home half of the 6th setting them down in order. 

 

Justin Williamson re-entered the game for Travis Schuett to lead off the top of the 7th for the Outlaws.  Willy started things out right by depositing a ball deep in the right center field gap.  When the dust settled Willy was standing on second base with nobody out.  Sam "Bammy" Baumgartner then did his job by moving Willy up to third on a ground ball out.  A few pitches later during a Robb Larson at bat, a pitch escaped the catcher and found its way to the backstop.  Willy charged home and on another close play, slid in safely to give the Outlaws a 3-2 lead.  That would be the extent of the scoring in the 7th for the Outlaws crew and Jeff Miller was 3 outs away from another victory with the Outlaws clinging to a 1 run lead.

 

The Bullheads refused to go quietly.  Ryan Bode led off the home half of the 7th by reaching on a walk.  He was then sacrificed into scoring position by Todd Hulke.  Craig Schmitz put runners on 1st and 2nd by drawing the 2nd walk of the inning out of Miller with one out.  After regrouping, Miller slammed the door by pitching a pop up to the mound from the next hitter and then ending the game with a strikeout.  Phew!

 

Another close game between the two teams had the Outlaws squeezing out the victory 3-2.  Jeff Miller improved to 2-0 on the year with the complete game victory.  Miller's scoreless inning streak ended at 24 and 2/3rds innings, but the win is all that matters.  Jeffrey struck out 5 Bullheads over his 7 innings of work allowing only the two runs on 4 hits and 3 walks.  Just another amazing outing for Spanky. 

 

Mike Roth led all Outlaw hitters going 2 for 2 with a homerun, an RBI and two runs scored.  Grant Carlson was 2 for 3 with a double and a single, Robb "The Magician" Larson was 2 for 4, Jeff Appel was 1 for 2 with an RBI single, and Justin "Willy" Williamson was 1 for 2 with a double and scored the big go ahead run in the 7th. 

 

*Amazing to watch Jeff Miller over that 24 and two thirds innings of shutout baseball.  He is a very talented young man.

*What a great full team effort in this victory with many cold beverages being had after the game.  The Bullheads are a stand up group of great guys and it's always fun to travel to Searles for good baseball.

*Next up for the Outlaws is an interesting weekend as they travel to Lorretto Saturday night for a 7:30pm game and then face the Edina ballclub at high noon on Sunday.  Looks like it will be a thin Outlaw crew, but it will be fun!