Eagles baseball wins 7-2, ups record to 7-5

The above photo shows Kirby Marquart scoring a run for the Eagles during early-season action at Chizek Field.

The Morris Eagles shook off the bad feeling of two straight losses by defeating the Starbuck Stars 7-2 on Wednesday, June 18, at the Minnewaska Area field. The win lifted the Morris town team two games over .500 in season record, to 7-5.
In league play they sport a better win percentage at 6-2.
Mark down Friday, June 25, for when the squad resumes its summer of 2010 play; they'll play at Wheaton against the Walleyes (8 p.m.).
Against the rival Stars on 6/18, Morris pitchers dealt with a strike zone that seemed small. They worked hard to keep the Stars from building a sustained rally.
The Stars were thwarted as they left 14 runners stranded on the basepaths.
Andy Lembcke pitched six innings and picked up the win. Andy dealt with his share of adversity as he walked six batters and gave up four hits. But he only allowed one run which was earned. Lembcke's strikeout total was five.
Matthew Carrington strode out to the pitching mound to work the last three innings. Matthew gained the save and he like Lembcke had to bear down with runners on base. He issued four walks and gave up two hits, while striking out three batters and allowing one run (earned).
The Eagles scored two runs in the third inning, two again in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the ninth. Starbuck scored one run each in the fourth and seventh.
Ross Haugen delivered offensively as expected of the No. 3 batter in the order. Haugen pounded out three hits in five at-bats and scored two runs. Bobby Culbertson, formerly a U of M-Morris Cougar and now in his rookie Eagle season, stole a base while going two-for-four and scoring a run.
Other offensive contributors were Jamie Van Kempen (two-for-five), Kirby Marquart (one-for-four, two RBIs and one run), Cory Marquart (one-for-three and an RBI), Chase Rambow (one-for-four and an RBI), Dusty Sauter (one-for-four, one RBI, one run), Matthew Carrington (an RBI and a run scored) and Andy Lembcke (one-for-three and a run).
Cory Marquart and Andy Lembcke each drew a walk. Flawless fielding was an important factor leading the Eagles to victory. Their line score had a zero under errors. Starbuck, by contrast, committed four errors.
The Eagles outhit the Stars 12-6.

Prior to the win: setbacks
The Friday, June 11, story was bleak by comparison. Morris Eagles baseball was dealt a humbling shutout 4-0 by the Chokio Coyotes at Chokio.
Kirby Marquart accounted for two of the Eagles' (meager) five hits, and he finished two-for-four. The other hits came off the bats of Ross Haugen, Eric Asche and Andy Lembcke. Walk recipients were Adam Torkelson and Matthew Carrington.
The Chokio pitchers looked very comfortable working at their home field. The Eagles went down on strikes ten times vs. a tandem of three Coyote hurlers. Adam Torkelson pitched gamely for Morris in the losing cause. Adam was tagged with his first pitching loss of the season, after having gained three wins. He came out of the day having logged 32 2/3 innings on the season and with a still-solid 2.48 ERA.
The day was significant for the Beyer name as Ryan entered the Eagles' fold, playing his first game in the bold blue color. He follows a tradition that includes brother Adam Beyer. Ryan got a rather non-hospitable welcome as he came up hitless in three at-bats.
Andrew Loher stole a base.
Chokio scored one run each in the second and fifth innings, and two in the eighth. Chokio played errorless ball while the Eagles had one fielding miscue.
Morris Eagles baseball made a strong bid to win its Wednesday, June 8, game against Raymond at the home Chizek Field. The Eagles trailed 3-1 before summoning some offensive "mo" in the seventh to take the lead with a three-run rally. A key blow was Dusty Sauter's two-run single. That tied the score at three-all. Sauter is an Eagle rookie and came out of this day with a team-best nine RBIs along with a .326 average.
Ross Haugen pushed the Eagles into the lead with a run-scoring single.
Raymond was blessed by some special good fortune in the ninth. The night sky spelled some trouble for Eagles in the field trying to spot fly balls. You might say it was just as challenging as a Teflon roof (what the Twins used to deal with at the Metrodome).
This bugaboo painfully surfaced twice with two outs. There were detrimental consequences. Raymond coupled this good fortune with a double and single that began that rally. It was a surge that spelled their eventual 6-4 win.
Chase Rambow took the loss on the mound with his stint of two innings. Chase gave up five hits and three runs (all earned) while striking out one and walking none. Andy Lembcke hurled for four innings and this Eagle's numbers were: two hits allowed, two runs (one earned), five walks and two strikeouts.
Jamie Van Kempen put his pitching arm to work for three innings and this Eagle gave up three hits and one run (earned) while walking no batters and fanning one.
The offensive contributors for Morris were Kirby Marquart (two-for-five and a run scored), Dusty Sauter (three-for-five and two RBIs), Ross Haugen (one-for-five and an RBI), Craig Knochenmus (three-for-five), Jamie Van Kempen (one-for-three), Matthew Carrington (two-for-three including a double, plus a run scored) and Bobby Culbertson (one-for-three and two runs).
Haugen and Van Kempen turned on the jets to steal bases.
Maybe if I stop making wisecracks about Matthew Carrington's age, I can actually get some stuff linked on the Morris Eagles baseball website. And as Jim Bouton once wrote, "add dreams of glory."
-Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com