It was a night for pitchers as Spring Grove closed the American Legion (age 19 & under) season with a tight 2-1 win over visiting Mabel-Canton on July 22. The Lions managed only four hits, but a trio of Spring Grove pitchers combined to toss a one-hitter. Each team used three pitchers, surely by design, since all but one logged more strikeouts than walks. There was only one earned run all game. Both the winning pitcher, Jaxon Strinmoen, and the Cougar pitcher of record, Cayden Tollefsrud, tossed two hitless innings.
Photos by Lee Epps
The teams combined for 17 strikeouts and 10 walks; With the score tied, a hurler from each club pitched his way out of peril. A walk and back-to-back singles by Ezra Griffin and Jonah Udstuen loaded the bases with Lions with only one out in the fourth inning. But Cougar left-hander Owen Underbakke struck out the next two batters, and the score remained knotted at 1-1.
And in the next half-inning, there were Cougars on second and third with one out, but Strinmoen thwarted that threat with two straight strikeouts, and the score remained knotted at 1-1.
In addition to the heroics on the mound, there were two outstanding plays by Spring Grove eighth grade catcher Ezra Griffin, who threw out two baserunners – one trying to steal third base and another attempting a theft of second base.
The winning run came when eighth grader Zach Brumm led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a walk, stole second base, went to third on a ground out and came home on a throwing error. That was the lone Cougar error of the night.
Both teams had scored a run in the third inning. Underbakke got a ground ball through the Lion infield, and right fielder Jonah Udstuen – the only Spring Grove outfielder to play the ball all game – came fairly close to getting the out with a throw to first base. But Underbakke advanced to second base on a passed ball and scored the game’s first run on a throwing error. With only one out, there was another Cougar on third base, but he became the unsuspecting victim in an inning-ending, double play line-drive to second baseman Ben Udstuen.
Both Lion runs were scored by batters who reached base with charity. Hit by a pitch, eighth grader Ben Udstuen went to second base on a sacrifice bunt by classmate Zach Brumm before scoring on a triple by Isaac Griffin. That was the only RBI of the night and tied the score in the bottom of the third inning.
Later, after Brumm walked and eventually scored the game-winner during a hitless fifth inning, Isaac Griffin would take the mound and strikeout five of the six batters he faced while earning the save. The Legion Lions (19 & under) closed the summer with a 4-5 record, very similar to the 10-12 regular-season, high school mark. The Junior Legion boys (16 & under) were 3-1.
Earlier in the week, the 14 & under boys could not handle a hard-hitting team from Holmen, who swept a double header 35-2 and 11-4. Coach Phil Griffin termed those visitors the best 14 & under team he has seen in four years.
SG 2, Mabel-Canton 1
MC 001 000 0 = 1 1 1
SG 001 010 x = 2 4 3
Left on base: SG 8, MC 4
Stolen bases: SG 3, MC 4
SG 4 hits (1 triple, 3 singles): Isaac Griffin 2-2, triple, RBI, steal; Jonah Udstuen 1-2; Ezra Griffin 1-2, steal
MC 1 hit (single): Owen Underbakke 1-2, run
PITCHING – SG
Ty Cleven 3 innings, 1 hit, 1 run (0 earned), 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Jaxon Strinmoen (WP) 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, 2 strikeouts
Isaac Griffin (save) 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
PITCHING – MC
James Arneson 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Owen Underbakke 2 innings, 3 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 1 walk, 1 hit batter, 3 strikeouts
Cayden Tollefsrud (LP) 2 innings, 0 hits, 1 run (0 earned), 4 walks, 1 strikeout
Records: SG 4-5
SG LINEUP: p Ty Cleven, Jaxon Strinmoen, Isaac Griffin, c Ezra Griffin, 1b Jaxon Strinmoen, Ty Cleven, 2b Ben Udstuen, ss Caleb Griffin, 3b Brandon Jahnke, lf Zach Brumm, cf Isaac Griffin, rf Jonah Udstuen, Gabe Klug
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Spring Grove Legion Baseball (age 19 & under)
4 wins, 5 losses
W vs. Lanesboro 8-4
L at Lewiston 8-29
L vs. Dover-Eyota 1-10
L vs. Chatfield 4-10
L at Caledonia 0-10 (6 inn.)
W vs. St. Charles 6-5
W vs. Lanesboro 8-1
L at Rushford-Peterson 1-7
W vs. Mabel-Canton 2-1
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Spring Grove Junior Legion (age 16 & under)
3 wins, 1 loss
L at Caledonia 5-6 (10 innings)
W vs. Lewiston 8-7
W vs. Lewiston 3-1
W vs. Caledonia 7-6
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Spring Grove 14 & under
3 wins, 11 losses
W at La Crosse Boys & Girls Club 10-2
L at La Crosse Boys & Girls Club 0-5
W vs. Tomah 6-4
L vs. Tomah 12-19
L vs. La Crescent 3-10
L vs Cochrane-Fountain City 2-14
L vs. Bangor 4-8
L vs. Caledonia 4-9
L vs. Caledonia 1-4
L at La Crosse Boys & Girls Club 4-5
W at La Crosse Boys & Girls Club 4-3
L vs. Goodview 11-21
L vs. Holmen 2-35
L vs. Holmen 4-11
July 28 at Holmen