St. Peter wins home opener 11-1 over Le Sueur
Posted May 24, 2016
Story courtesy of Dana Melius, Le Sueur News-Herald
Le Sueur’s early season struggles continued Sunday, as the Braves dropped an 11-1 River Valley League game at St. Peter.
The loss put Le Sueur’s town team record at 0-3. On Friday, the Braves lost a 13-4 contest to Jordan at Bruce Frank Field.
But it’s a trifecta of troubles for the Braves. There’s been difficulty scoring runs, pitchers have given up 36 runs in three games, and roster numbers are low. Sunday in St. Peter, an iron nine played, including veterans Ryan Wolf and Mike Feeney at the corner infield spots.
Two first-year St. Peter players played big roles in Friday’s victory. Pitcher Alex Klug, who played last year with the now defunct Mankato Twins, tossed five innings, striking out nine Braves batters while allowing just one hit. Wolf had the only Le Sueur hit off Klug.
Offensively, former Mankato Moondogs hitter Jovan Rodriguez went 3 for 4 with a triple, stolen base and RBI.
Braves starting pitcher Jordan Sinell tossed the first four innings for Le Sueur and should have got out of two innings with little damage. But just two of St. Peter’s first seven runs were earned, as the Saints put together a two-run first and five-run third inning.
A three-run fourth inning pretty much put it away for St. Peter. Le Sueur scored its lone run in the sixth. Matt McPartland opened with a double, moved to third on a single by Brent O’Connell, and scored on Mike May’s RBI grounder.
St. Peter’s Jeff Menk had two hits including his first-ever triple and three RBIs. Ryan Kapsner added two hits for the Saints.
Two first-year St. Peter players played big roles in Friday’s victory. Pitcher Alex Klug, who played last year with the now defunct Mankato Twins, tossed five innings, striking out nine Braves batters while allowing just one hit. Wolf had the only Le Sueur hit off Klug.
Offensively, former Mankato Moondogs hitter Jovan Rodriguez went 3 for 4 with a triple, stolen base and RBI.
Braves starting pitcher Jordan Sinell tossed the first four innings for Le Sueur and should have got out of two innings with little damage. But just two of St. Peter’s first seven runs were earned, as the Saints put together a two-run first and five-run third inning.
A three-run fourth inning pretty much put it away for St. Peter. Le Sueur scored its lone run in the sixth. Matt McPartland opened with a double, moved to third on a single by Brent O’Connell, and scored on Mike May’s RBI grounder.
St. Peter’s Jeff Menk had two hits including his first-ever triple and three RBIs. Ryan Kapsner added two hits for the Saints.
The Braves’ Brandon Culbert finished up on the mound for Le Sueur.
Veteran pitcher Jesse Anderson finished up the final two innings for St. Peter, giving up a pair of hits, one run and striking out two.
Both teams dropped league games Friday night. The Braves lost 13-4 to Jordan. McPartland led Le Sueur with two hits. Feeney took the mound loss for the Braves.
Le Sueur scored its four runs in the sixth inning without the benefit of a hit. Five walks extended the game through nine innings for the Braves.
St. Peter lost an 8-2 game to Belle Plaine.
