Legion Baseball: No trouble for Post 54

Well, that was easy.

The Red Wing Post 54 legion baseball team operated with precision against Owatonna Thursday in a surgical 11-0 five inning victory in 1 hour, 15 minutes at the Red Wing Athletic Field.

Zach Garner had pinpoint control for Post 54, allowing one hit and striking out five without walking a batter in five innings. Originally, Garner was only supposed to throw four innings but with how well he was pitching, Post 54 head coach Justin Plein said he couldn’t take him out. Garner threw just 55 pitches.

“He was just dominant tonight,” Plein said. “He had all his stuff working. He and Andrew were on the same page tonight.”

Garner also went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI, a stolen base and run scored.

Red Wing’s drew first blood after Garner set down Owatonna in order in the first inning and Post 54 tallied three runs in the bottom of the inning.

“It was a great way to start,” Post 54 head coach Justin Plein said. “They were patient at the plate and took advantage of all their mistakes. Put them in a hole early and they don’t give up.”

Owatonna made two errors in the first inning, leading to all of Red Wing’s runs but the floodgates opened in the third inning as Post 54 scored seven runs and sent 13 hitters to the plate thanks to three more errors by Owatonna.

Garner gave up his first hit in the fourth inning on a weak grounder down the third base line and Red Wing added another run to go up 11-0.

“It’s definitely fun to go from those top teams and then be able to relax and have fun,” Garner said.

Post 54 walked eight times in the victory and finished with only four RBI. All other runs were scored on errors or wild pitches. Joel Newman was 1-for-3 with an RBI, Mike Stegora was 0-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored and Johnny Banks was 1-for-1 with the other RBI in the fifth inning. Andrew Sandstrom finished 1-for-2 with a double and two runs scored.

After so much success in the high school season, Plein said it is a privilege to coach such a driven group. They want to come to the baseball field every game, he said.

“They’re a great group,” Plein said. “For me, it’s almost stay out of the way sometimes.”

Owen Carlson tallied Owatonna’s lone hit.

Red Wing plays again Monday against Hastings, the doubleheader starting at 6 p.m. at the Red Wing Athletic Field.

Tags: red wing, sports, prep, baseball