Baseball: Lakers rally, 6-5

Talk about it

One bad pitch turned Rosemount’s fortunes last Thursday against Prior Lake.

Relief pitcher Mitch Olson left a pitch up to the first batter he faced in the top of the seventh inning and the result was a two-run home run that lifted the Lakers to a 6-5 South Suburban Conference road win.

Starter Nick Seipel had just left the game with a high pitch count after holding the Lakers to four runs (two earned) over the first 6 1/3 innings.

The Irish had 10 hits over the first six innings, but were set down 1-2-3 in the seventh as they fell to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in league play.

The Lakers took the lead with a run in the top of the first, but the Irish quickly tied the score back up when Chris Leske walked and came home on a Morris Valenzuela single in the bottom of the inning.

Two more runs in the bottom of the third gave Rosemount a 3-2 lead. Leske once again started the rally by reaching base, this time with a single, and Anthony Winters and Jordan Turner followed with back-to-back RBI singles.

Prior Lake took its third lead at 4-3 before the Irish rallied for a third time with two runs in the fifth. Valenzuela got aboard with a one-out double and scored the tying run on another RBI single by Turner. A double steal brought in Tommy Wiita and made it 5-4 heading into the sixth.

The Irish rode the arm of Jake Schulze to victory a day earlier in Bloomington.

The junior picked up his first career varsity victory with a complete-game shutout, scattering eight hits and striking out nine while walking three in an 83-pitch, 4-0 shutout of Kennedy.

“He pitched a great game. He was throwing all his pitches for strikes and hitting his spots,” Rosemount coach Chris Swansson said. “We’re excited about what he’s doing.”

Tags: sports, rosemount, irish, prep, baseball