Saints cruise to 8-1 win over Arlington to open postseason play
Posted July 28, 2023
By Ben Camp, St. Peter Herald
Wednesday night, the St. Peter Saints opened postseason play with a road matchup against the Arlington A's in the first round of the River Valley League West Tournament. A dominant defensive performance, anchored by a complete game gem from Sam Carlson, combined with an all-around good night on offense to propel St. Peter to an 8-1 victory.
"All three pitches were working for me and when that happens, I can be a pretty serviceable pitcher," Carlson said after earning the win. "The biggest thing was throwing strikes and getting into my pitches quickly so the defense can make plays."
St. Peter got on the board in the top of the first as Sam Wenner was hit by the opening pitch of the night before Tyson Sowder sent a single sailing into left and advanced Wenner to third. Jovan Rodriguez then hit a fielder's choice to the right side that didn't give Arlington a play at home, allowing Wenner to put the Saints up 1-0.
The A's were able to respond in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff bloop single to left and a walk. After a sacrifice bunt, Arlington executed a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield and despite an incredible throw to home, catcher Billy Hanson just missed the tag as the A's runner slid around the glove.
The walk for Carlson would prove to be the only he would give up on the night as he quickly found a grove with Hanson behind the plate, relying on his defense to make plays and just staying focused on keeping the ball in the strike zone.
"We have a great defense and my job is to go out there, throw strikes and mix up my speed," he said. Billy called a really really good game, Sam Wenner made some big plays, the infield turned a couple of double plays and if I throw strikes, I know we have a pretty good chance to win."
In the top of the third, Wenner got on base for the second time with a single up the middle before a scary moment occurred as Sowder took a wild pitch directly to the helmet. Fortunately, the safety equipment did its job and Sowder immediately jumped back to his feet, grabbed his helmet and took his base.
Austin Pinke brought Wenner across home plate with a single straight up the middle but that would prove to be all that the Saints could score as a rundown between home and third resulted in a lead runner being tagged out before a popup ended the inning.
After a pair of ineffective offensive innings from Arlington, St. Peter once again got to work in the top of the fifth. Sowder reached base for the third time on the night with a single to left followed by a walk for Rodriguez and a sac bunt from Pinke pushed both runners into scoring position.
Sowder would score on a fielder's choice to the right side and Rodriguez quickly followed as Hunter Wilmes sent a single into the left centerfield gap, increasing the Saints lead to 4-1.
The A's would get a leadoff hit in the bottom of the sixth, but St. Peter's defense immediately doused any concerns as a grounder to short resulted in a textbook 6-4-3 double play. The Saints weren't done scoring though, and in the top of the eighth, they added four more runs to give Carlson even more cushion and build even more confidence to go the distance.
In both the bottom of the eighth and ninth, Arlington would go down in order, securing the win for St. Peter and advancing the team to the second round. The Saints will travel to top seeded Jordan Friday night with first-pitch scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
"It's always fun to play over there [Jordan]," Carlson noted. "We know we have a tough battle ahead of us with them, but our guys are going to come out, compete and see what we can do."
