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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Wrenshall outfielders Brysen Jessup, left, and Peyton Johnson collide as they converge on a fly ball during Tuesday's game against Carlton at Braun Park in Cloquet. Both players were shaken up but not significantly injured.
Carlton's Dan Eggert pitches in relief against Wrenshall.
Things were tight through the first couple of innings during the Carlton and Wrenshall baseball game Tuesday. That changed in the top of the third when the Bulldogs plated 12 runs and eventually coasted to a 21-2 win at Braun Park.
"I thought their pitcher (Zeke Rousseau) pitched well for them at the beginning," said Carlton coach Ryan Schmidt. "I also thought our starter, Joey Solomon, did a nice job in his three innings pitched. He struck out three and just did a nice job."
The offensive explosion for the Bulldogs in the third inning was a perfect-storm scenario of Wrens errors combined with bats that came alive to the tune of 12 runs.
"It was a tough night for us tonight, because last night (Monday) we had an emotional win over Barnum," said Wrens assistant coach Aaron Lattu. "Zeke pitched a strong first and second inning for us and then our defense just let him down."
Trailing 3-1, the Wrens gave up 12 runs in that third inning before scoring a run of their own in the bottom of the inning as they fell behind 15-2 in what became an insurmountable lead.
Solomon started on the mound for the Bulldogs and was followed by Dan Eggert in the fourth and Aaron Ermatinger in the fifth as the game ended early on the mercy rule.
The Bulldogs had numerous players with a fat stat line. Kristian Herman went 4 for 4 including a double, a triple, five RBIs and four runs scored. Ben Hille was also 4 for 4 with a double and four RBIs. Ermatinger finished with a 4-for-5 effort at the plate with a pair of doubles, four RBIs and four runs scored. Solomon aided his own cause with a 3-for-4 game, a pair of doubles, four runs scored and four stolen bases.
"It was just nice to get a game in because our schedule has just been goofy because of weather and other things," Schmidt said. "We've only had two games in 18 days and now we have four this week, four games next week, and four the following week. We talk about how every time out we need to play our best. If we can get better each game, then we'll be playing our best at playoff time."
