It wasn’t easy, but the Lakers took down the New Germany Dutchmen 4-1 on Tuesday night to remain undefeated (5-0).  Pitching and defense were superb for Waconia yet again.  The Lakers have allowed just 12 runs through their first five game of the year. 

Peter Brown pitched tremendously for Waconia once again to improve to 3-0 on the season.  He struck out 13 batters and allowed only one run in seven innings of work.  Remarkably, Brown struck out the side in the first, fourth, and seventh innings.

The Lakers’ offense struggled at times, much to the credit of Dutchmen Pitcher Steve Mielke.  Mielke threw strikes and kept the Lakers off balance all night. 

After an early 1-0 deficit, Waconia tied the game in the bottom of the second inning.  Nick Litfin walked, stole second, and was driven in by Robbie Smothers’ double to left-center field.

The Lakers took the lead in the 5^th inning, getting production from the bottom of their lineup.  Right-fielder Pat Deering started the inning with a soaring double to right-center field.  Next, Peter Brown reached on an erorr.  Ronnie Olson drilled a single up the middle to score Deering, and Chris Bullis drove in Brown with a sacrifice fly to right field to give Waconia a 3-1 lead. 

 After the Lakers added another run in the 7^th inning, Ben Smothers came in relief of Peter Brown to close out the game.  Ben Smothers struck out three batters, and also had a great day at the plate.  He finished 3-4 with a run scored.  Ronnie Olson also had a terrific game, going 2-4 with two RBIs.  Nick Litfin went 1-2 with two walks and three stolen bases.

 Although it wasn’t a perfect game for the Lakers, they will definitely take the win.  Waconia needs just one more win to match their total of six wins from all of last year.

 “We did just enough tonight,” said  Coach Ken Horner.

Waconia will host St. Boni on Thursday, May 26 and the East Side Merchants on Wednesday, June 1 at 7:30 pm.  Then they will face a huge test on Saturday, June 4th  when they host Green Isle at 4:00 pm.