Baseball, softball sweeps Melrose Area

In their second meetings against Melrose Area, the Mainstreeters baseball and softball teams earned a series sweep over the Dutchmen. The host baseball team won in dramatic fashion by a 12-11 score in eight innings to move to 7-3 overall, while the softball team beat the host Dutchmen 6-2 to improve to 9-4 overall.

In the baseball game, the Dutchmen took a 2-0 lead in their first at-bat. Sauk Centre responded with four runs to go up 4-2 headed into the second. They went ahead 5-2 in the second before giving up two runs to Melrose in the third. In the fourth, Sauk Centre plated two runs for a 7-4 advantage, but the bottom fell out when the Dutchmen scored twice in the fifth and four times in the sixth to go up 10-7.

Sauk Centre's second, third and fourth batters in the lineup went down in order in the bottom of the sixth to further worsen the outlook. In the top of the seventh, Melrose plated one run to built the lead to 11-7.

Trailing 11-8 in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and runners on second and third, Will Funk hit a long bomb for a two-RBI double to the outfield fence. Adam Froseth, the next batter, fell behind in the count zero-and-two but ultimately drew a walk. With Matthew Moritz at bat, Froseth started an early break play while getting into a hot box between first and second. Funk, on third base, made a break for home and got the game-tying run. Moritz ultimately flied out to send the game into an extra inning.

How did the 12th run of the game come in and lift Sauk Centre to 7-1 in the West Central North Conference? Read about that and more on tonight's action in this week's Sauk Centre Herald.