Four Jackson pitchers combined to hold Heron Lake to one hit while striking out 12 batters and the Bulls had 19 hits of their own as they opened their First Nite League amateur baseball season with an 18-0 win at Heron Lake on Sunday. The game was stopped after seven innings by the 10-run rule.
The Bulls left two runners on base in the first inning and then a double play ended a second inning threat after only one run had scored, but Jackson opened it up after that.
“Wins are wins,” said Bulls manager Scott Bahr. “We did a lot of things right. We struggled early. We had some runners on and didn’t take care of business there, but once we got to the third or fourth inning we started to roll from there.”
Jackson scored six times in the third inning, five in the fourth inning, two in the sixth and one in the seventh.
“I was proud of the way we competed,” the Bulls’ skipper said. “Evern when we got up big we still played hard, had some good at bats and treated the game right.”
There were 12 Jackson players that got hits in the game, with five getting more than one.
Bulls with multiple-hit games:
Chris Gumto: 3-4, double, four RBI
Blake Evans: 3-6, double, one RBI
Carter Snyder: 2-4, double, triple, three RBI
Alex Bretzman: 2-4, double, walk, stolen base
Evan Olesen: 2-5, home run, walk, one RBI
Haiden Warmka had a two-run triple. Easton Bahr had a hit and walked twice and Andy Wolf had a hit and was hit by a pitch.
Recording one hit apiece were Blaise Jacobsen, Cael Miller, Talan Holm and Javen Baumgarn.
Lincoln Wolf, a freshman at Okoboji High School and the son of longtime Bull Andy Wolf, got an at bat in the seventh inning and reached base on an error. Lincoln then played shortstop in the bottom of the seventh inning with his Dad playing second base.
Also, Scott Bahr stepped over from the third-base coaching box to run for his son, Easton at third. There were no reports of any injuries.
We’ll have more on what appears to be the eighth father-son combo in Bulls history, one-time Jackson strikeout leader Tom Hady is playing again after missing a lot of the 2024 season due to an injury and more in a future newsletter.
