Collins 'monster' night carries A's
Cris Collins had one of those evenings you dream about: a three-run home run in the second inning and a grand slam in the seventh. The Rochester A's outfielder also mixed in a double and a single.
All of it led to a 17-2 pounding of Winona on Tuesday night in First District American Legion baseball in Winona.
"It was just one of those things," A's coach Keith Kangas said of Collins' four-hit, seven-RBI night. "It was his night. We've been rotating players having big games. We had a couple of guys who did not hit tonight, but Cris got us off to a real good start."
Collins wasn't the only A's hitter in a groove against Winona. Jay Kasner had two hits, including a home run; Tom Lyons had two hits and two RBIs; Ted Garry had two hits and an RBI; and Dan Lyons homered.
ADVERTISEMENT
As productive as all those players were, the A's only led 5-2 going into the fifth inning. From there, though, they broke the game open.
Mike Badger got the pitching win. He allowed four hits, walked none and struck out three.
The A's, the No. 2-ranked Legion team in the state, moved to 17-2 overall. They play a doubleheader at La Crosse today beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Patriots fall twiceto strong La Crescent
The Rochester Patriots dropped a couple of tight games to highly regarded La Crescent, falling 6-4 and 14-13.
The Patriots rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh of the first game but still fell. Rochester's Joe Ellerbusch had three hits and Tom Corcoran two. Corcoran also pitched a complete game.
In Game 2, La Crescent scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win 14-13.
Rochester's Ben Schafer had a huge game with three hits, including a grand slam in the fifth inning. Greg Polt was 4-for-5, Corcoran 3-for-4, Mike White 3-for-5 and Sam Steffen 2-for-4.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Patriots slipped to 8-11 overall. They play Winnipeg Select at noon Friday in the first round of the Gopher Classic in Minnetonka. They follow that with a 5:30 p.m. game against Omaha Central.
AREA
ELGIN-MILLVILLE 5, LEWISTON-ALTURA 2
Scott Mattke had a solo homer and a double, lifting Elgin-Millville to a 5-2 win over Lewiston-Altura in Elgin. E-M finished with just three hits. Pete Kreidermacher, Todd Tesch and Mitch Pasche all had two hits for Lewiston-Altura. E-M is 4-7 overall while L-A is 9-11.
ST. CHARLES 14, CHATFIELD 12
St. Charles built a 10-run lead, then hung on to beat Chatfield 14-12 in St. Charles. St. Charles finished with 14 hits, while Chatfield had 11. Brian Bambenek, Shawn Sanders, Leif Larson and David Dunn each had two hits for the winners. Bambenek also walked three times. Dustin Bren had three hits for Chatfield. Luke Proper had two hits, including a grand slam, and Adam Clark had two hits. St. Charles is 11-6 overall.
