East Grand Forks overwhelms Detroit Lakes in doubleheader

DETROIT LAKES

— The Detroit Lakes Post 15 legion baseball team welcomed East Grand Forks Post 157 to Washington Ballpark for a Wednesday night doubleheader.

Post 157 dominated the series from start to finish as they took down Detroit Lakes 12-1 in Game 1 and 15-2 in the second contest.

EGF clicked on all cylinders with lights-out pitching and red-hot bats in both games. Detroit Lakes struggled at the plate throughout the night tallying eight hits combined.

“I think we just showed that we were lacking the pitching tonight,” Detroit Lakes co-head coach Zack Oistad said. “When you have seven games in a week, your pitching can run dry at times. We have two more games on Friday so we were stretched thin tonight. The bats didn’t show up either so we have some things to work on.”

Post 15 started off the opening game with a bang as Noah Rieber blasted a solo home run to dead-center field to take a 1-0 lead. Chaz Eckhoff started on the mound for Detroit Lakes. He threw four and one-third innings, allowed nine runs on nine hits, and struck out four batters.

EGF ace Carson McDonald threw a complete game for Post 157. He was efficient on the mound as he threw 87 pitches and 61 were called for strikes. McDonald allowed one run on four hits and fanned 11 batters.

“Their pitching was excellent tonight,” Oistad said. “We got down a bit and lost any momentum that we had. They threw strikes and their defense made all of the plays when we made contact.”

Alex Spect came in for relief and threw two and two-third innings. He allowed three runs on four hits and struck out one batter. Connor Beswick, Kael McArthur, Eckhoff, and Rieber all recorded a hit and Rieber had the lone RBI.

In Game 2, EGF got out to an early lead. Henry Peeters started on the mound for Detroit Lakes and struggled with his control as he walked seven batters. EGF scored two runs in the opening inning. They scored nine runs on four hits in the top of the second to take an 11-0 lead. EGF added a run in the third and three runs in the fourth to take a 15-0 lead. Detroit Lakes scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to trail 15-2.

“We just want the guys to have fun at the end of the day,” Oistad said. “The game of baseball is meant to be fun and we want to get better for the future. I want them to go up to the plate and not watch strike three go by. I want them to be all right with their approach and just shake off the bad at-bats. Stay confident in themselves and do what they’ve been doing for a long time.”

GAME 1: EAST GRAND FORKS 12 DETROIT LAKES 1

EGF – 0 0 2 5 2 1 2 X X – 12

DL – 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1

DETROIT LAKES BATTING – E. Rieber: 0-3; Eckhoff: 1-2; Spect: 0-1; N. Rieber: 1-3, RBI, R; Martin: 0-3; Beswick: 1-3; Wilson: 0-2, BB; Hansen: 0-3; McArthur: 1-2; Bartnes: 0-2

WP: McDonald (EGF); LP: Eckhoff: DL)

GAME 2: EAST GRAND FORKS 15 DETROIT LAKES 2

EGF – 2 9 1 3 0 X X – 15

DL – 0 0 0 2 0 X X – 2

DETROIT LAKES BATTING – N. Rieber: 1-3; McArthur: 1-2; Erickson: 0-1; Eckhoff: 0-2, BB; Wilson: 0-1, 2BB; Hansen: 0-3; Martin: 1-1, R, BB; E. Rieber: 1-3; Peeters: 0-1; Spect: 0-1; Bartnes: 0-1, R, BB

WP: Stassen (EGF); LP: McArthur (DL)

Cooper Kanthak is a sports reporter for the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal. Cooper graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in journalism and minored in digital and social media. He is originally from Pipestone, Minnesota, and has a passion for all things sports. You can reach Cooper at ckanthak@forumcomm.com.