Jackson was able to squeeze out a 5-4 win over Heron Lake in First Nite League amateur baseball Wednesday at Wacker Field. Literally.
Nate Monson got down a squeeze bunt on an 0-2 pitch to score Shad Wacker from third and give the Bulls the win.
Wacker singled with one out, stole second and went to third on Chris Gumto's single.
Monson had two bunt attempts go foul and then fouled off a pitch before Jackson Manager Scott Bahr put the squeeze back on. This time Monson bunted the ball toward the mound. Laker pitcher Logan Knutson attempted to flip the ball to the plate, but Wacker scored to put an end to the Bulls' four-game losing streak.
"We got a little creative there," Bahr said. "Shad Wacker had a huge base hit and stole second, and then Mons gets down a two-strike squeeze. I thought they might walk him. I don't know if I would have squeezed with the bases loaded. Even at 0-2 I didn't know if they would pitch out but then we saw they were going after him and he got it down the third time."
The Bulls scored four runs in the second inning. Gumto and Zach Neal had RBI singles and Easton Bahr had an RBI groundout. The other run scored on an error. Heron Lake scored three runs in the eighth and tied the game in the ninth.
"Andy (Wolf) said after the game that a win is a win and we'll take it," said Scott Bahr. "We were in a bit of a slide here so we'll take a win any way we can get it. There's a little disappointment in the way we weren't able to finish it up. That's two games in a row that Ryan (Rasche) has pitched his butt off and deserved wins and didn't get a win either time but he's had plenty of wins and he's going to get a lot more wins. That's the way baseball works sometimes."
Rasche went the first six and one-third innings, not allowing a run on five hits, walking one and striking out four. He remains 4-1 on the season and has 71 career wins as he is still one win away from Tom Hady's Jackson career record of 72.
The Bulls are scheduled to play two on Sunday, hosting Windom at 1 p.m. and then playing a 5 p.m. game at Worthington.