Photos by Chad Koenen
Above: Kale Ovsak and Broden Fleisher throw the ball in from the outfield during Friday’s game in New York Mills. Below: Byron Kropuenski takes a swing at a pitch during Friday’s non-conference game against the Eagles.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Frazee split a dramatic double header with the Hawley Nuggets on Thursday night. Both games ended in walk off fashion in the bottom half of the final inning with the Nuggets winning 5-4 in eight innings and the Hornets winning the night cap by a score of 10-9. 

In addition to Thursday’s double header, the Hornets fell to Otter Tail Central by a score of 18-11 and New York Mills by a score of 11-1 in non-conference action.

This week the 4-7 Frazee Hornets will host Perham in a double header on Tuesday, before hosting Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale in non-conference action on Thursday. 

Monday

An 8 run top of the third inning proved to be the different in an 18-11 loss to Otter Tail Central on Monday night. The Bulldogs and Hornets combined for 29 runs, 20 hits and 11 errors in the high scoring game. 

After OTC opened the game with 3 runs in the top of the first inning, the Hornets answered with 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning off of a 2-run single by Broden Fleisher, an RBI single by Wiley Bachmann and another run later in the inning to give the Hornets a 4-3 lead. 

The Bulldogs went down in order in the top of the second inning before the Hornets scored 3 more runs thanks, in part, to a Scott Seim sacrifice fly to left field and a Bachmann RBI single. 

Unfortunately, OTC went on a two out rally in the top of the third inning to give them an 11-7 lead and added 3 more runs in the top of the fourth inning to essentially put the game out of reach by a score of 14-7. 

The Hornets were led offensively by Bachmann who had a pair of hits with 3 RBIs and Fleisher who finished with 2 hits and 2 RBIs. Seim also had 3 RBIs and a double in the loss. 

Bachmann took the loss on the mound as he gave up 14 runs, but only 6 of which were earned. He also gave up 12 hits in 3 2/3 innings pitched.

AB R H BI

Brandon Nguyen 3 2 0 0

Mason Guhlke 0 2 0 0

Brock Barlund 4 3 1 0

Broden Fleisher 3 3 2 2

Scott Seim 3 0 1 3

Wiley Bachmann 4 0 2 3

Mark Jaroszewski 3 0 0 0

Byron Kropuenske 3 0 0 0

Gunnar Erickson 3 0 0 0

Kale Ovsak 2 1 0 0

Ethan Wothe 1 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B-Scott Seim

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)-Wiley Bachmann 3.2-12-14-6-4-3, Byron Kropuenske 1.2-2-4-2-4-1, Mark Jaroszewski 1.2-0-0-0-0-0

Thursday

Frazee split a double header with Hawley on Thursday night. 

In the opening game of the night, the Hornets took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Mark Jaroszewski was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring Brock Barlund across the plate from third base. The next hitter, Byron Kroupenski was also hit with the bases loaded to force a second run across the plate to make the game 2-0 in favor of Frazee.

The Nuggets took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on a pair of two out hits and a wild pitch to give Hawley its first lead of the game. 

The Hornets tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh inning when Seim led off the inning with a double. Mason Guhlke was put into the game as a courtesy runner and scored on a Bachmann RBI double to tie the game at 3-3. Bachmann was stranded at second base and the Hornets kept the Nuggets off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings. 

In the top of the eighth inning, Fleisher gave the Hornets a 4-3 lead when he connected with an RBI triple with two outs to bring Barlund across the plate. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough as the Nuggets scored 2 runs in the bottom half of the inning on a two out double and wild pitch to give them a 5-4 win.

Barlund, Fleisher, Seim and Ethan Wothe led the way offensively with a pair of hits. 

In the nightcap, the Hornets returned the favor by defeating the Nuggets in walk off fashion by a score of 10-9. The two teams combined to get 31 hits in the win with the Hornets scoring the final 7 runs of the game, 6 in the bottom of the sixth inning on a Longfors RBI single, three of wild pitches and a Fleisher RBI single. In the bottom of the seventh inning, 

Longfors scored on a wild pitch to break a 9-9 tie with two outs to give the Hornets the 10-9 win. 

Barlund had a big game offensively as he went 4-5 with 2 runs scored, while Brandon Nguyen, Fleisher, Bachmann, Kropuenske and Gunnar Erickson also had 2 hits in the win. 

Nguyen picked up the win on the mound after he pitched a scoreless seventh inning. 

AB R H BI

Brandon Nguyen 5 0 0 0

Brock Barlund 4 2 2 0

Broden Fleisher 4 1 2 1

Scott Seim 4 0 2 0

Mason Guhlke 0 1 0 0

Wiley Bachmann 4 0 1 1

Mark Jaroszewski 3 0 1 1

Byron Kropuenske 3 0 1 1

Ethan Wothe 4 0 2 0

Gunnar Erickson 4 0 1 0

HITTING- 2B-Wiley Bachmann, Scott Seim; 3B Broden Fleisher

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)-Scott Seim 7.1-8-4-4-4-1-6, Brock Barlund 0.1-2-1-1-0-0

AB R H BI

Brandon Nguyen 4 1 2 0

Brock Barlund 5 2 4 1

Broden Fleisher 4 0 2 2

Scott Seim 4 0 1 1

Wiley Bachmann 4 1 2 0

Byron Kropuenske 3 1 2 0

Mark Jaroszewski 2 1 0 0

Zach Longfors 3 1 1 1

Mason Guhlke 1 1 1 0

Gunnar Erickson 4 2 2 0

HITTING- 2B-Wiley Bachmann, Brock Barlund, Gunnar Erickson; 3B- Brock Barlund

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- Brock Barlund 4.2-9-7-7-6-5, Byron Kropuenske 0.2-2-2-2-3-0, Mark jaroszewski 0.2-0-0-0-0-1, Brandon Nguyen 7-14-9-9-9-6