WHS baseball, softball team each sustain doubleheader losses

The Worthington High baseball team was on the road Saturday for a doubleheader against Tri-City United and was swept by scores of 14-13 and 10-6.

In game one, the Trojans collected 11 hits while making just one error. Chase Byrne was the hitting star for WHS, blasting a grand-slam homer as well as a two-run shot. Manny Saravia added two doubles and a single, Dom Pavelko had two hits and Dalton Larson contributed a pair of RBIs. Max Ostrem threw the first five innings and took the pitching loss.

Worthington picked up 10 more hits in the second game while again only making one error. Larson was 3-for-4 at the plate in the contest, Brayden Raymo and Byrne were each 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs apiece, and Pavelko was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Byrne started on the mound and took the loss.

The Trojans are now 1-4 on the spring.

In a Friday baseball game in Adrian, the Dragons scored seven runs on wild pitches and captured a 13-8 triumph over Pipestone Area.

The Arrows closed the gap to 8-7 in the fifth inning, but Adrian-Ellsworth responded with two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Offensively, Kyler Kunkel paced the Dragons, now 2-2, with a pair of hits and an RBI while also scoring three times. Jayden Lautt added a pair of hits and scored two runs, and Joe Rahe had a hit and two ribbies. 

Garrett Penning threw the first 4 1-3 innings and earned the pitching victory, and Charger Erlandson finished for the save. Weston Reinhard had two doubles and a single for Pipestone Area, and Landon Quist hit a solo homer.

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The Worthington Trojans boys golf team finished in fifth place out of 10 schools Friday afternoon at their invitational tournament at GreatLIFE Worthington.

Spenser Nickel had the lowest round of the day for WHS at 87, which put him 14th among individuals. Also playing for the Trojans were Cameron Krommendyk with a 92, Ryan Dorcey with a 94, Tyson Petersen at 97, Brody Pederson at 100 and Ayden Stugelmeyer at 102.

Lac qui Parle Valley finished atop the team standings with a total of 335 strokes, with Lakeview second at 339, Luverne third at 347, Windom Area fourth at 349 and Worthington fifth at 370. Carson Boe of Lakeview was the individual medalist with a round of 73, seven strokes better than the second-place Will Bergman of Luverne. 

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The Trojans softball team was swept in a home doubleheader Saturday, losing to Tri-City United 11-2 and 13-3 in six innings.

In the opener, the visiting Titans pounded out 14 hits while also benefiting from six Trojan errors, all of which came over the course of the final two innings. Tri-City United was up just 2-0 entering the top of the sixth, but scored nine times the rest of the way. 

WHS, which had four hits in the game, was paced offensively by an RBI triple from Hannah McNab and a double from Leah Nelson. Bailey Ponto pitched the entire contest.

In game two, Tri-City United broke a 0-0 deadlock by taking advantage of bases on balls and adding some timely hitting to score seven times in the bottom of the third. The Trojans got single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, but the Titans won via the 10-run rule with a pair in the bottom of the seventh.

WHS got six singles in the contest. An RBI base hit from Nelson plated one run, another scored on a wild pitch and the other scored on a Tayler Nickel groundout that brought home Madi Polz.

Emry McCuen and Morgan Menke shared the pitching duties for the Trojans, who lost their fourth straight. WHS, which was defeated 14-6 on Friday by Redwood Valley, is 2-4.