by Max Mercy
PROCTOR -- St. Cloud Cathedral scored five runs in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie and went on to defeat Proctor, 10-3, in a non-conference baseball game at Egerdahl Field.
The Crusaders struck first when Sam Hanson led off the top of the second with a triple and scored on an RBI groundout by Sam Schneider.
Proctor knotted the score in the third. Bryce Huffman led off by getting hit by a pitch. He stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Ryan Lear's RBI infield single with two outs.
Tyler Bautch led off the Crusaders' fourth with a single. He advanced to second on a groundout, took third on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of Schneider, who reached on a two-base error. Ryan Tetzlof singled and James Anderson's RBI single plated Schneider. Anderson advanced to second on the play at the plate. Jared Klein then delivered a two-run double, sending in both Tetzlof and Anderson. Klein moved to third on a passed ball. Brandon Hartung walked, but immediately got into a run-down long enough to allow Klein to score before getting tagged for the second out. Reggie Deyak singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch before a strikeout ended the inning.
Cathedral scored three runs in the fifth for a 9-1 lead. Bautch led off by reaching on an error. Matt Buhr hit into a fielder's choice, forcing Bautch out at second. Schneider walked, putting runners on first and second. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch. Tetzlof reached base on an error for an RBI, plating Buhr and putting runners on the corners. Tetzlof was caught stealing, but was safe on a fielder's choice when Schneider successfully attempted to score on the play. A throwing error allowed Tetzlof to advance to third. He then scored on a sacrifice fly by TJ Neu.
Proctor scored two runs in the sixth to cut the lead to 9-3. Connor Pavlowich walked to lead off the inning in his first varsity plate appearance. Jordan Linder singled, sending Pavlowich to second. Both runners scored when Austin Parrott reached on a three-base throwing error.
Cathedral scored one run in the seventh to cap the scoring. Bautch led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on Keenan Rajkowski's sacrifice fly.
Bautch earned the win with four innings of relief pitching. He allowed two unearned runs on two hits and one walk with two strikeouts. Hanson started for the Crusaders and allowed one run on three hits, two walks, and a hit batsman. Hanson had nine strikeouts in his three innings pitched.
Losing pitcher Zach Gunderson (0-1 W-L, 7.00 ERA) allowed six runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks in four innings. He had three strikeouts. Lear pitched one inning in relief and Cole Johnson threw two innings.
Bautch led the Crusaders with two hits. Schneider and Klein had two RBI apiece. Bautch, Schneider, and Tetzlof each scored twice.
Lucas Nordquist singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, a new school record. John Aase had hit safely in 19 straight games in 2016-17. Nordquist is now tied for 10th in state records. Deer River's Tim Gullickson has the state record. He hit safely in 33 games from 1981-83.
Proctor (2-1) is back in action on Monday, April 23, as the Rails host Virginia at 4:30 p.m.