EDITOR'S NOTE: Michael Achterling is a reserve outfielder on the active roster of the Detroit Lakes Baseball Club.
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DETROIT LAKES — The Detroit Lakes Baseball Club's pitching was sharp and bats came alive during its 8-2 victory over the Erskine Comets on June 24.
The Club's offense failed to score in only two innings of the eight-inning game and featured multi-hit games from Justin Hoskins, Tristen Wimmer, Zack Oistad and Blaine Henderson. Matt Huberty earned the win on the mound and gave up one earned run on three hits while striking out seven in his best pitching performance of the summer.
"The fun thing about Matt is he kind of coming out here after a decade and really reinvented himself as a pitcher, and it's been fun to watch his progression," said Brandon Johnson, player-manager of the Detroit Lakes Baseball Club. "I wanted him to start that Erskine game to give him a chance to really feel it out, work through it and learn what he is now. He located his inside fastball very well when we needed him to and that forced them off-balance, and then his slider was eating people alive."
In the fifth inning, Huberty issued two walks and a single, which loaded the bases for the Comets with no outs. However, he struck out the next batter, allowed a sacrifice fly and forced a ground out, limiting the Comets to one run in the frame when it could've been much worse.
Johnson said Huberty also mixed in the occasional overhand, which differs from his unique release point, that delivery that kept hitters off-balance and from making solid contact.
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Justin Hoskins finished the day 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Blaine Henderson delivered three singles and a stolen base, raising his team-leading batting average, among the starters, to .400. Trevor Tappe also remained stayed hot the plate in going 1-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and a stolen base.
"You can see the rust coming off. People were more comfortable, more relaxed at the plate," said Johnson. "Both of (Hoskin's) hits were very hard hit doubles, so it's good to see him bust out. Wimmer stayed—hot 2-for-4 again, and Oistad finally getting a couple, and then Blane (Henderson) being consistent, quietly consistent very good season out of Blaine so far."
Heavy rains forced the umpires to call the game in the bottom of the eighth inning and led Detroit Lakes players racing onto the field to cover pitching mound and home plate areas with tarps to protect them from the elements.
Up next, the Detroit Lakes Baseball Club will take on the division leading Ada A's at Washington Ballpark on Monday, June 27 with first pitch scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
"Ada is the current one seed in our league and they just beat Dilworth in an absolute shoot-out last weekend, like 13-10, or something like that," said Johnson. "Our hope is to put what we know we are capable of together—meaning that pitching remains consistent and we're throwing strikes, we're not walking guys and our defense is solid, like we proved that we can be at times."
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