Baseball: Red Wing blasts past Northfield

Red Wing shines during its second loop through the batting order and the Wingers did it once again with seven runs in the third and fourth innings of a 9-4 victory against Northfield Friday at the Red Wing Athletic Field.

Junior Ryan Boldt hit a home run, his third of the season, in the first inning and finished 2-for-2 with two walks, a stolen base and two runs scored to lead Red Wing (8-0, 7-0 Missota). He improved his batting average to .577 and 10 of his 15 hits this season have gone for extra bases.

“You can just tell he’s in a groove,” senior catcher David Goggin said. “He’s the same ‘0-2’ as he is ‘2-0.’ He doesn’t get himself out.”

Boldt wasn’t the only one to take advantage of the Raiders’ pitching. The Wingers had nine hits in the game, all nine coming in the first five innings. Senior Zach Garner went 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI, senior Mike Stegora was 1-for-3 with a triple and two RBI and senior Erin Foley finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored at the eight spot in the order.

“He’s starting to relax out there,” Red Wing head coach Jim Bohmbach said of Foley. “We need to stay hot down at the bottom (of the order).”

Nine-hitter Karsten Lampman was 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Garner started on the mound for Red Wing and gave up one run in the first inning but had little trouble the next four innings, allowing two more runs, one earned, on seven hits. He finished with seven strikeouts.

Goggin said he called too many outside fastballs in the first inning and Northfield got too comfortable at the plate. From the second inning on, they decided to pound fastballs inside against the Raiders and it produced much better results, Goggin said.

“He worked in well today,” he said of Garner. “We started pumping them inside and they didn’t know what to expect.”

In the third inning, Garner tripled home Foley to put the Wingers up 2-1 and a batter later Northfield decided to intentionally walk Boldt. But senior Mike Stegora made the Raiders pay with a two-RBI triple to give Red Wing another lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

“Once we get a lead, we know we aren’t going to lose it,” Goggin said. “But we aren’t comfortable with a lead. We never quit.”

The Wingers tallied three runs in the fourth inning and one more in the fifth inning to pad the lead.

Senior Carsten Meyer walked the first two batters of the sixth inning but got some help from his defense on a beautiful double play up the middle from Joel Newman to Karsten Lampman to Jack Strusz that killed the Raiders chance to trim the deficit.

“We don’t beat ourselves,” Bohmbach said. “If we get beat the other team is going to have to take it.”

Northfield added a run in the seventh inning.

Red Wing will attempt to stay undefeated Tuesday on the road against Chaska.

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