Warhawk pitcher befuddles No. 9 Saints

ST. ANSGAR — Lack of patience at the plate is what St. Ansgar baseball coach Devin Schwiesow attributes to his team’s 3-1 loss to West Fork on Friday of last week.

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His Saints managed just nine hits off of Riley Peterson, who went the distance, throwing 93 pitches to earn the win.

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“He located the ball real well,” coach Schwiesow said. “Didn’t have two pitches; he had one pitch and we mentally didn’t have a good approach at the plate. We need to get better to win conference games and this was a big conference game for us.”

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No St. Ansgar batter finished with more than one hit with five total against Peterson.

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“When we did put balls in play, sometimes we didn’t put balls in play very hard,” coach Schwiesow said. “When we did put balls in play hard, they were right at them. It was one of those nights and we’ve got to overcome that. That’s baseball sometimes, we’ve got to get better offensively.”

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It wasn’t until the seventh where the Saints strung their hits together, with two-out hits by Drew Powers, pinch hitters Jacob Eberling and Ryan Hackbart, the last of which plated the only Saints run.

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“We had some miscues tonight that put some runners on base and I thought we did a nice job of getting out of jams early,” coach Schwiesow said. “Our pitchers did a really nice job, Taylor Hillman pitched really well, held them and gave us a chance to win. When you give up three runs, that gives you a chance to win ball games. We’ve got to play better offensively, can’t start in the seventh.”

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Nevertheless, after a successful weekend at Lake Mills, the Saints entered the Iowa High School baseball coaches association Class 1A rankings at No. 9 this week.

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Plenty of big games were on the schedule, including Friday’s home game against top-ranked Mason City Newman.

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“It’s a big conference week for us,” coach Schwiesow said. “We’re going to find out what we’re made of this time of year. Figure things out and try to get better every night out.”

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Winning battery — Riley Peterson and Kellen Cameron. Losing battery — Taylor Hillman, Drew Powers (5) and Carter Salz. Two or more hits — WF (Cameron 3, Kayden Ames, Carter Meints). SB — WF (Noah Maske 2, Cameron); SA (Ryan Cole, Bradley Hackenmiller). RBI — WF (Ames 2, Cameron); SA (Ryan Hackbart).