Home field just the ticket for our raptors

Brett Arne bats for the Morris Eagles at Chizek Field.

The Morris Eagles have reversed course and taken advantage of a homestand to find winning ways. Such as been the success, the raptors have arrived at .500 and then climbed above it.

To what extent has the home field been the factor? Whatever the cause, our beloved raptors have a chance to finish the homestand at 6-0.

Whatever the cause? How about superior play?

The sixth game in the stretch is presented this Friday, July 15. Montevideo will be the visiting team Friday.

More is at stake than just finishing the homestand unblemished, as the Eagles can clinch the regular season title outright. The Eagles have clinched at least a tie for the top seed in the Canvas Division.

The success on July 8 was with a 9-6 win over the Appleton A's. Chris Boettcher supplied the main offensive fuel.
Boettcher drove in a run with a single in the first inning. He was back to work in the second inning with a double that drove in two runs. He continued a bid for "the cycle" with a triple in the sixth, and he went on to score.
He may not have finished with the full "cycle" but what a day it was for him, as his boxscore line was three-for-four with those extra-base hits.

He drove in three runs.

The Eagles had an eighth inning rally that was essential for the winning outcome. It netted four runs. Jamie Van Kempen brought his lumber to the plate with two outs and drove in two runs with a single.

Mitch Carbert drove in the other two runs in that rally, also with a single, his third hit of the game.

The eighth inning success gave Morris some breathing room, so Appleton's three-run rally in the top of the ninth was insufficient for them.

The Morris line score was nine runs, 13 hits and one error. Appleton's numbers were 6-9-1.

The following Eagles had multiple-hit games: Boettcher, Ross Haugen, Matthew Carrington, Van Kempen and Carbert.

Brett Anderson got the pitching win and Van Kempen got the save. Anderson struck out three batters and walked three in his six innings. He gave up four hits and two runs which were earned.

Van Kempen fanned five batters and walked two in his three-inning stint. He withstood five hits and four runs (earned) to get the save.

The Eagles made it five wins in a row on July 10 with a 15-5 home win over Wheaton. It was a classic hot July afternoon.

You might say the game was part of our Prairie Pioneer Days.

There was little suspense in this game as Morris scored nine runs over the first three innings, while Wheaton put up zeroes.

Boettcher continued with his hot bat, singling to drive in two runs in the second frame. The Walleyes hurt themselves with an error. Ross Haugen drove in a run with a single.

The barrage in the third inning included RBI singles off the bats of Matthew Carrington, Dusty Sauter and Ross Haugen.

Carrington put his seasoned pitching arm to work as the starter and did great over the first five innings. He had a shutout going.

But the Walleyes got untracked vs. him in the sixth. This is the inning in which Wheaton scored all their runs. Carrington gave way to reliever Nathan Gades who wrapped things up.

Carrington ended up with the "W" next to his name.

Any thoughts the Walleyes might have had of being back in this game faded. Morris scored two runs each in the sixth through eighth innings, and the game never made it to the ninth as the ten-run rule was invoked.

An RBI single off the bat of Craig Knochenmus created the ten-run bulge and ended the game.

Morris scored its 15 runs on a whopping 17 hits. Just as pleasing was the final number in the line score: zero errors.

Wheaton struggled in the field with six fielding miscues.

Dusty Sauter made noise with his bat, finishing three-for-six including a double, and he drove in a run while scoring two.

Boettcher scored two runs and drove in three. Haugen scored one run and drove in three. Knochenmus had an RBI total of two with his two hits.

Ryan Beyer had two doubles and scored three runs. Gades picked up a ribbie. Carrington was a perfect three-for-three with three runs scored and one RBI.

Cole Riley had a two-for-five boxscore line and he scored a run. Jamie Van Kempen scored two runs, and Brett Anderson went one-for-one with a run scored and an RBI.

Morris Eagles baseball will host Montevideo at 7:30 p.m. this Friday.

Eagles baseball fever - it's catching!

Cross your fingers for the win streak to grow.

- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com