91st Article at the Independent

PREP BASEBALL: Canby drops regular season finale against Edgerton/SWC 10-6

CHRIS DRUMMOND

cdrummond@marshallindependent.com

CANBY — Going into its regular-season finale, the Canby baseball team looked to snap a recent losing streak and build some momentum before the postseason. But their opponent, Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian, took advantage early with three runs and held on in a back-and-forth battle on Thursday, 10-6.

The Flying Dutchmen scored three runs in the first inning to take an early lead. However, the Lancers would respond with a two-run inning of their own in the bottom of the second and followed it up with scoring another three runs in the third inning to take the lead at 5-4.

The lead wouldn’t last as the Flying Dutchmen would score the final six out of seven runs in the game, ending it at a final score of 10-6. Canby outfielder, third baseman and pitcher in the game Brady Hulzebos led the team with two RBIs and added a base hit. Teammates catcher Liam MacArthur and infielder Evan Engesmoe both had a hit and an RBI apiece in the loss.

Canby head coach Nick Kockelman assessed his team’s performance in the game.

“Second time through the order we hit the ball really well and then we scattered some hits, but didn’t get enough runs across,” Kockelman said. “We walked their bottom order of the lineup too much and they got some good hitters at the top of the lineup that took advantage of that.”

Kockelman added that the message heading into sections is be aggressive on the basepaths and put the ball in play, the same message he has preached all year to his team.

Canby will face off against the No. 1 seed MACCRAY on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in Raymond in the opening round of the Section 3A baseball playoffs.

Edgerton/SWC 301 400 2 – 10 13 2

Canby 023 000 1 – 6 6 0

Hitting: Canby (Anthony 1-3; Engesmoe 1-4, RBI; MacArthur 1-4, RBI; Sigler 1-4; Hulzebos 1-3, 2 RBI; Sik 1-3).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Canby (Ruether 1.1-3-3-2-4-3; Engesmoe 1.2-4-4-4-2-3; Antony 2-1-1-3-2-2; Hulzebos 2-2-2-4-1-2).