By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Asher Blaine and Noah Mekalson gave up just three hits and one unearned run as the Frazee Hornets defeated the Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Wolves on the road in the Section 5A opener on Thursday night. 

Andrew Aho put the Hornets on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning when he hit a solo home run with two outs to give Frazee a 1-0 lead. The Hornets truck again in the third inning when Blaine connected with an RBI double and would later score on a balk to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Hornets.

Blake Sonnenberg made the score 4-0 in the top of the fifth inning on a fielder’s choice and Mason Mickelson made the score 6-0 when he connected with a two out RBI single to right field. 

The lone WHA run came in the bottom of the sixth inning when they scored on an error, but would get no closer than 6-1 as Blaine and Mekalson kept the Wolves off balanced throughout the contest. 

Mickelson had a big game from the bottom of the line up as he collected three of Frazee’s eight hits and had an RBI in the win.

Blaine pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up just three hits and one unearned run. He also finished with 12 strikeouts. Mekalson pitched the final 1/3 inning to secure the Hornets win.

With the win the fifth seeded Hornets will travel to New York Mills on Tuesday night when they take on the defending section champions and top seeded Eagles. NY Mills opened its playoffs on Thursday with a 23-0 win over Cass Lake-Bena on Thursday night. 

AB R H     BI

Adam Vigen 3 1 1 0

Asher Blaine 3 1 1 1

Noah Mekalson 3 1 1 0

Karson Krause 1 1 0 0

Ben Reierson 1 0 0 0

Conner Erickson 2 0 0 0

Charlie Turnbull-S. 1 0 0 0

Blake Sonnenberg 3 0 0 1

John George 1 0 0 0

Andrew Aho 2 2 1 1

Mason Mickelson 3 0 3 1

Dawson Lyman 2 0 1 0

Chandler Ullrich 1 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- Asher Blaine, HR- Andrew Aho

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- Asher Blaine 6.2-3-1-0-3-12, Noah Mekalson 0.1-0-0-0-0-0