Clinton spotted the Minneota Mudhens a seven-run lead in the first two innings.

Then then took it away with seven of their own in the seventh.

But the Mudhens came back for two in the eighth and held on for a 9-8 win over the Clinton Cards on Sunday.

After battling the weather conditions and graduations in both communities all weekend, the two teams settled for a 5 p.m. start on on Sunday.

After spending most of the day drying out the field, Minneota came on with a run in the first on two "gift errors" by the Cards.

Then they burst forth with six in the second for a 7-0 lead.

The big blow was a long two-run double by Danny Hennen.

Both teams settled down and at one point Hennen retired 10 batters in a run, then 16 of 17 before Clinton got their bats rolling in the seventh.

Keane Turner's triple knocked in a pair of runs while Chris Karsky and Nate Bauer also doubled in that inning.

Henry Pesch came to the mound in relief of Hennen. He struggled a little — but got out of the seventh. He fanned the side in the eighth, then despite a pair of hits and a walk, struck out the final two Cards to end the game. He picked up the win.

This was Pesch's first appearance since he pitched junior college baseball this spring.

Minneota is now 3-2 on the year and 2-0 in the Land O'Ducks League. Clinton is 1-2.

Minneota plays at Marshall at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31.

Minnneota Mudhens 9, Clinton Cards 8
MINNEOTA (AB-R-H-RBI) Beau Buysse, 2b 3-1-0-0; Jordan Beck, 1b 5-2-1-0; Tyson Sonnenburg, cf 5-0-1-1; Adam Durfee, ss 4-1-0-0; Danny Hennen, p-1b 3-1-1-1; Jesse Drager, c 4-0-0-0; Austin Buysse, 3b 3-0-0-0; Henry Pesch, lf-p 3-1-1-0; Ryan Koopman, cr 0-1-0-0; Brock Buysse, rf 3-1-2-0. Totals 33-9-6-3.
CLINTON (AB-R-H-RBI) Zak Alderman, ss-p 5-0-1-0; Ryan Stotesbery, 2b 5-0-2-1; Mike Alderman, 3b 2-1-1-1; Tanner Teske, 3b 1-1-0-0; Chris Karsky, 1b 4-1-1-1; Marcus Moberg, lf 4-1-1-0; Keane Turner, p-ss 4-1-2-2; Sam Alderman, cf 3-1-0-0; Nate Bauer, rf 4-0-1-1; Jordan Bauer, c 3-2-1-1. Totals 34-8-10-7.
Score by Innings
Clinton                       000 000 701 — 8 10  6
Minneota                    160 000 02X —9  6   1
E-Minneota: Hennen; Clinton: Mike Alderman 3; Zak Alderman Jordan Bauer 2. LOB-Minneota 8; Clinton 5. SB-Minneota; Beau Buysse 2; Sonnenburg, Brock Buysse 2; Koopman. SAC: Clinton: Mike Alderman. DP-Minneota 6-3-6 (5); Clinton 9-3 (5). 2B-Minneota: Hennen, Sonnenburg; Clinton: Karsky, Nate Bauer. 3B-Turner.
Pitching               IP  R  ER  H  BB  K
Minneota
Danny Hennen    6    4   4     5   0    4
Pesch (W)           3    4   2     5   1    5
Clinton
Turner                  3     7  0     3    5   2
Z. Alderman (L)   5     2  1     3    1   4
HP-M. Alderman, Karsky (by Hennen); S, Alderman (by Pesch); Beau Buysse (by Turner). WP-Turner 3; PB-Drager.

Minneota Mudhens 11, Ortonville Rox 4
The Minneota Mudhens banged out 15 hits and knocked state tournament pitcher Chris Fellows out of the box in the third inning enroute to an 11-4 win over the Rox.
Beau Buysse was 3-5 with three runs scored and a stolen base as the leadoff hitter helped lead the Mudhens to a 2-1 record and Land O’Ducks League opener.
Manager Tyson Sonnenburg slapped a booming triple in the first inning to score Buysse to tie the game after the Rox Chris Doney homered in the first inning.
Sonnenburg scored on a sacrifice fly by Adam Durfee for a 2-1 lead the Minneota never looked back.
Jordan Beck knocked in a pair of runs in the second inning; Sonneburg was 2-5 with two runs scored and two runs knocked in.
Durfee singled and doubled and knocked in a pair of runs and Jesse Drager was 3-3 with a double and two runs batted in.
Austin Buysse also collected three hits and scored a run.
Danny Hennen pitched seven innings and picked up the win with nine strikeouts and Peyton Nuy closed out the game.
Ortonville used four pichers and got two hits from Chance Haugen.
The Mudhens host Sacred Heart at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Ortonville        102 000 001 — 4   7 3
Minneota        240 002 12x — 11 15 2
PITCHING: Minneota-Danny Hennen (WP) 7 innings, 3 runs, 1 earned, 6 hits, 9 strikouts, 4 walks; Peyton Nuy 2 innings 1 run, 1 earned, 1 hit, 2 walks, 1 HP, 2 strikeouts. Ortonville: Chris Fellows (LP) 2 innings, 9 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned runs 0 walks, 1 strikeout; Mike Shake 4 innings; 2 runs; 0 earned; 2hits; ; 2 walks; 3 strikeouts; Tony Strake 1 inning; 1 run, 1 earned run; 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout; Joe Fuller 1 inning, 2 runs, 2 earned, 3 hits, no walks, 1 strikeout.
HITTING: Doubles for Minneota: Durfee, Drager; triple-Sonnenburg. HR-Chris Doney (Ortonville).

Minneota hit four Ortonville batters: Hennen hit three; Nuy 1.

Danny Hennen was sitting by himself in the dugout, a jacket wrapped around his strong right arm.
Nobody sat hear him,ad nobody said a word. But he knew … that he was dancing around history, flirting with the immortality.
There’s an old tradition — “When someone is throwing a no-hitter, don’t jinx him by talking about it. And whatever you do, don’t tell the pitcher.
Manager Tyson Sonnenburg and assistant Beau Buysse disappeared from the bench for a second for a pow wow around the corner of the dugout. They returned and Sonnenburg told Hennen to keep pitching.
“Normally, this early in the year we would normally not let him go that long. But a no-hitter is a rare thing,” said Sonnenburg.
Hennen had struck out nine batters in the first eight innings and hadn’t given up a hit. It wasn’t perfect, he’d walked three and the Mudhens committed three errors. But there were no hits.
So without a word, he went out to pitch in the ninth. The Tracy Express were down 9-0  but they knew something special was happy. Jordan Lanoue wasted little time slapping a single to centerfield ruin the no-hitter. Immediately Hennen came out and Beau Buysse finished the game by hitting two batters, then striking out two to end the suspense.
Minneota had a 9-0 win in the amateur season’s opener and Hennen settled for one-hitter.
Despite all the secrecy, Hennen knew what was going on. “Yeah, I knew,” he said. “I wanted to do it,” said. He’s never thrown a no-hitter. “It was a bummer, not to get it, but the important thing is to win the game,” he said.
“As a former pitcher, I know how rare it is (to pitch a no-hitter). Danny is a veteran and he’s my friend and I really wanted him to do it. It wasn’t much of a decision to leave him in,” said the Mudhen Manager.
Hennen, who has been known to pitch long innings and come back quickly, decided, “Whatever they decided, I was ready to do it.” When they left him in inning after inning, well, it became clear to him something special was going on.
The Mudhens punched out two runs in the first inning keyed by singles from Sonnenburg and Adam Durfee. It would be the first of four Sonnenburg hits and later he’d score on a booming double by Durfee.
Jordan Beck knocked in a run for the Mudhens 4-0 lead in the seventh — then broke the game open with five runs in the eighth. Sonnenburg’s double knocked in two runs.
Beau Buysse, the Mudhen leadoff hitter walked three times and Mike Luke came off the bench to line two hard singles to centerfield.

DIAMOND NOTES:
•An unusual event occurred in the eighth inning. Pinch hitter Drew Fadness hit for Jesse Drager — twice. Pinch hitting twice in the same inning is a rare occurance. He ground out and popped out.
•The Mudhens, hoping their college players will arrive soon, played with a short staff of 12 players.
•Cal Swedzinski, who played with the Mudhens a couple of years ago, rejoined the team, coming out of retirement. A pitcher-first baseman, he will be largely used to help the coaching staff and will primarily be the third base coach.
•After a lot of organizing and planning, the season finally began and Manager Sonnenburg said, “It was a lot of fun. We finally got to start the season.”
•The Mudhens will travel to Milroy to play the Yankees at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.