DL baseball earns Mid-State sweep of C-I

The Detroit Lakes baseball team opened the first homestand of the season with a conference sweep of Crosby-Ironton Tuesday, May 1 at the Detroit Lakes high school field coming from behind to win game one 7-4 and rolling in a shortened five-inning nightcap 10-2.

The Lakers are a young team with four starting sophomores

Cooper Hermanson pitched a complete game in the opener allowing only one earned run of four scored in seven innings. He fanned three batters and did not issue a walk while scattering four hits.

Hermanson hit the strike zone throwing 69 strikes and only 29 balls.

“He kept us in the game,” head coach Mike Bommersbach said.

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead scoring a single run, unearned, in the fourth and fifth innings.

Three C-I errors allowed the Lakers to plate five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Ethan Schweigart had a RBI single to score Reed mace to tie the game. Blake Itzen brought home Mason Blank on a sacrifice fly to take the lead for good.

Hermanson scored DL’s first run reaching on an error on a mace grounder. Ben Stearns brought Jackson Fields and Schweigart home to give DL a 5-2 lead.

In the sixth, Blank walked and scored on a bases loaded fielder’s choice on a grounder hit by Itzen. Fields scored his second run of the game on an error at second base for DL’s final run.

The Rangers put together three hits in their final at-bats to plate two in the seventh.

Itzen and Stearns each knocked in a pair of runs. Schweigart had the lone multi-hit game with two hits.

The Lakers jumped all over Ranger starter Eli Wineganer and reliever Adam Christopher in the nightcap building a 10-0 lead in four innings at the plate.

Eli Brooks pitched all five frames for DL allowing two runs on seven hits. He struck out seven and walked three. Brooks tossed 85 pitches, 55 for strikes.

Itzen and Hermanson each knocked in two runs. Mace and Jackson Haire scored twice. Schweigart and Lane Moe each had two hits.

Bommersbach played a fifth sophomore in Hunter Cheska who was 1-3 with a run scored.

“He hit his cuts, great player,” Bommersbach said.

DL (2-2) will host Fergus Falls in a Section 8AAA makeup game from the snowed out season opener Friday, May 4. The Otters have lost four straight games and are 1-5 overall.

C-I 000 110 2 - 4 4 3

DL 000 052 X - 7 5 3

WP: Cooper Hermanson; LP: Nate Sova

DL 012 70 - 10 10 0

C-I 000 11 -   2 7 2

WP: Eli Brooks; LP: Eli Winegarner