After an 0-4 start to the Victory League season, the Freeport Black Sox have now win 4 straight games after Saturday’s 6-3 win in Aitkin over the Steam.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the 3rd, Freeport’s Carter Neuenschwander relieved starter Jadin Norby with no outs and proceeded to blank the Steam on 3 hits for the rest of the game as the Black Sox rallied late to tie the game at 3-3 in the 7th, then added 2 more in the 8th and an insurance run in the 9th for the 6-3 win that left Freeport with a 4-4 record while Aitkin fell to 4-5.
Freeport got on the board in the top of the 1st when Ryan Liebrenz singled with 1 out off Aitkin starter Thorin Dunham. Mason Toutges was then hit by a Dunham pitch and after a strikeout of Matt Johnson, Owen Fradette cracked an rbi double to score Liebrenz and make it 1-0 in favor of the Black Sox. Dunham then fanned Jared Laudenbach to end the innings with the Sox stranding runners at 2nd and 3rd.
Jadin Norby was the Freeport starting pitcher and he issued a lead-off walk to Nathan Ehnstrom but then got Drew Paulbeck to hit into 6-4-3 double play. Another walk to Zach Ehnstorm followed but then Norby fanned Jake McGuire to end the 1st.
Thorin Dunham worked a relatively quiet top of the 2nd, giving up just a 2-out single to Bryan Benson while striking out 2.
The Steam tied things up in the bottom of the 2nd when John McGuire led off with a walk, followed by a single from John Pelarski and a sacrifice bunt. McGuire then scored on a passed ball to make it 1-1 before Jadin Norby ended the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Matt Johnson collected a 2-out single in the top of the 3rd for the Black Sox but was throw out trying to steal 2nd to end the inning with the game still tied at 1-1.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Nathan Ehnstrom got things started by getting hit by a pitch from Jadin Norby, and after Ehnstrom stole 2nd, Drew Paulbeck singled to move Ehnstrom to 3rd. Zach Ehnstrom then put Aitkin in the lead with an rbi single to right to plate Nathan Ehnstrom and make it 2-1. Jake McGuire then reached on an error and the Steam had the bases loaded with no outs. John McGuire then walked to force in Drew Paulbeck and put Aitkin ahead 3-1. That’s when the Black Sox replaced Norby on the mound with Carter Neuenschwander. He came on and struck out John Pelarski, then got a ground out back to the mound that resulted in a force out at home and finished off the inning with another strikeout as the 3rd inning ended with the Steam up 3-1.
In the top of the 4th, Freeport’s Owen Fradette led off with single to left, followed by a walk to Jared Laudenbach to put the tying run on base with no outs. After Fradette stole 3rd, Thorin Dunham struck out Nate Mettenburg, then Aitkin catcher Nathan Ehnstrom threw out Laudenbach attempting to steal 2nd for the 2nd out. Dunham then fanned Ben Millard to keep it 3-1 headed to the bottom of the 4th.
In the bottom of the 4th, Carter Neuenschwander had a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts and a fly out to right to keep it a 3-1 game after 4 innings.
In the top of the 5th, with Drew Paulbeck now on the mound for Aitkin, Carter Neuenschwander reached on an Aitkin error but was then forced out at 2nd on a Trevor Sawyer ground ball. Ryan Liebrenz then put a ball in play and another Aitkin error moved Sawyer to 2nd and put Liebrenz aboard at 1st with 1 out. Mason Toutges then singled to center, driving in Trevor Sawyer to make it 3-2. Ryan Liebrenz was thrown out at 3rd on the play for the 2nd out. Mason Toutges then was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning with the Black Sox now trailing 3-2.
Carter Neuenschwander came out and quickly retired the Steam in order in the bottom of the 5th.
In the top of the 6th, Matt Johnson led off with a single to left, followed by Owen Fradette’s fly ball to the outfield dropped for an error. Jared Laudenbach grounded back to Paulbeck as both Johnson and Fradette moved up a base. Nate Mettenburg then hit a ground ball to 1st and the throw home was in time to get Matt Johnson trying to score for the 2nd out. Drew Paulbeck then ended the inning with a strikeout of Ben Millard.
Carter Neuenschwander gave up a 1-out single to M. Olsen in the bottom of the 6th but then recorded 2 more strikeouts to finish off the inning.
In the top of the 7th, Carter Neuenschwander led off with a single to left, followed by a walk to Trevor Sawyer. Ryan Liebrenz was able to advance both runners with an unassisted ground out to 1st, followed by a sacrifice fly from Mason Toutges to score Neuenschwander and tie the game at 3-3 before Drew Paulbeck struck out Matt Johnson to send the game to the 7th inning stretch all tied at 3-3.
In the bottom of the 7th, Carter Neuenschwander kept rolling along, getting Nathan Ehnstrom to pop up 2nd baseman Nate Mettenburg, then got Drew Paulbeck to hit back to the mound and then an inning-ending groundout to 2nd off the bat of Zack Ehnstrom.
With the Steam bringing in Jake McGuire to pitch the top of the 8th, Owen Fradette led off by reaching on an error. Jared Laudenbach then walked. After a wild pitch from McGuire, Nate Mettenburg walked to load the bases with no outs. Aitkin then brought in Zack Ehnstrom to pitch. Ben Millard greeted him with an rbi single to score Fradette and put Freeport ahead 4-3. Ehnstrom then struck out Carter Neuenschwander, but then the Sox added another run on a Trevor Sawyer rbi groundout to score Laudenbach and lake it 5-3 before Ehnstrom got Ryan Liebrenz to fly out to left to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 8th, Jake McGuire led with a single to left for Aitkin, but then Carter Neuenschwander struck out John McGuire, got John Pelarski to fly out to Trevor Sawyer in left and got M. Olsen to pop back to the mound to end the 8th with Freeport leading 5-3.
The Black Sox opened the top of the 9th with 3 straight singles from Mason Toutges, Matt Johnson and Owen Fradette. After Zack Ehnstrom struck out Jared Laudenbach, Nate Mettenburg walked to force in Mason Toutges and make it 6-3. Ehnstrom then got both Ben Millard and Carter Neuenschwander to hit into force outs to send the game to the bottom of the 9th with Aitkin trailing Freeport 6-3.
Carter Nuenschwander started the bottom of the 9th with a pair of strikeouts, then gave up a 2-out double to Nathan Ehnstrom. But Neuenschwander finished off his outstanding relief effort with his 10th strikeout as Drew Paulbeck went down looking to finish off Freeport’s 6-3 win.
Freeport 6 12 1 – 6
Aitkin 3 6 4 – 3
WP: Carter Neuenschwander 7.0 IP 0 runs 3 hits 10k 0bb
Jadin Norby 2.0 IP 3 runs 3 hits 3k 4bb 1hp
LP: Jake McGuire 0.0 IP 2 runs 0 hits 0k 2bb
Thorin Dunham 4.0 IP 1 run 5 hits 6k 1bb 1hp
Drew Paulbeck 3.0 IP 2 runs 3 hits 2k 1bb
Zack Ehnstrom 2.0 IP 1 run 4 hits 2k 1bb
Black Sox:
Trevor Sawyer 0-4 bb, rbi, run
Ryan Liebrenz 1-5 sb, run
Mason Toutges 2-4 hp, 2 rbi, run
Matt Johnson 3-5
Owen Fradette 3-5 2B, rbi, run
Jared Laudenbach 0-3 2bb, run
Nate Mettenburg 0-3 2bb, rbi
Ben Millard 1-5 rbi
Bryan Benson 1-1
– Carter Neuenschwander 1-4 rbi, run
Steam:
Nathan Ehnstrom 1-3 2B, bb, hp, sb, run
Drew Paulbeck 1-5 run
Zack Ehnstrom 1-3 bb, sb, rbi
Jake McGuire 1-4
John McGuire 0-2 2bb, rbi, run
John Pelarski 1-4
– Carter Maslowski
M Olsen 1-3
J Simonson 0-4
Thorin Dunham 0-4