St. Albert outslugs Vikings in district semifinal

Class 1A District Baseball: St. Albert 16, AHSTW 8

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (July 16) -- As soon as AHSTW’s Joel Sampson rifled a bases-clearing triple to the fence in the top of the first, the tone for the night - offense - was set.
 The Vikings continued to hit the ball well and fought admirably the rest of the way, but never slowed down St. Albert’s bats in Tuesday’s Class 1A, District 14 baseball semifinal at Chuck Wolever Field.
 Led by Ethan Bernard’s four hits and four runs scored and Isaac Sherrill’s three hits and five RBI, the Falcons answered AHSTW’s 3-0 start with five runs in the bottom of the first and three more in the second, eventually finishing off the Vikings in a 16-8 slug fest.
 St. Albert (23-13) outhit AHSTW 14-13, had seven extra-base hits and also took advantage of eight walks and three hit batters. The Vikings, who drew just one free pass, finished 12-12 overall but not without a fight. Once down 13-4 and in danger of losing by the 10-run rule, they extended the game the full seven innings against a formidable opponent.
 “I think that kind of shows the resiliency that we’ve shown throughout the year,” said AHSTW coach Jason Holst. “We’ve had some games where it’s been tight and we’ve kind of clawed back... It didn’t surprise me."
 Facing a hard-throwing right-hander in Falcon senior Ethan Bernard (8-1), the Vikings wasted no time in making the statement that they came to play.
 Loading the bases in the top of the first on a single by Clayton Akers, a Sam Porter double and a walk to Blake Holst, AHSTW took a 3-0 lead when Sampson cranked a two-out, three-run triple to right-center field.
 The early outburst may have woken up a giant, however, as St. Albert responded with relentless authority off Viking lefty Sam Porter (6-3). Following a one-out hit-by-pitch, the next five Falcon batters hit safely - including a Sherrill two-run triple and Reed Miller RBI double - to make it 5-3.
 Capped by Sherrill’s two-run single, the Falcons added three runs in the second to go ahead 8-3. They scored four runs (two earned) off Clayton Akers in the fourth to make it 13-4 and both teams continued to add runs in the late innings.
 Akers (3 runs scored) and Cunningham both finished 3-for-4 at the plate for AHSTW, including two doubles and three RBI for Cunningham. Porter was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Blake Holst, Gabe Madsen, Joey Goins and Lane Nelson all added a single.
 Madsen, a three-year starter in baseball, is the lone Viking senior this year. He will continue his athletic and academic career at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, playing on the soccer team and pursuing a career in the medical field, according to Coach Holst.

Class 1A, Substate 7 Baseball Tourney
District 14 First Round Score: Thursday, July 11
Essex-South Page 10, Riverside 0
District 14 Quarterfinal Scores: Saturday, July 13
CB St. Albert 15, Essex-S. Page 0 (4)    Logan-Magnolia 19, Sidney 1 (4)
AHSTW 8, Fremont-Mills 0        Stanton 5, East Mills 1
District 14 Semifinal Scores: Tuesday, July 16
CB St. Albert 16, AHSTW 8        Logan-Magnolia 10, Stanton 0 (6)
District 14 Final: Saturday, July 20
Logan-Magnolia (14-14) at CB St. Albert (23-13), 7:00 p.m.

 
 

 

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