Aquinas Stifles McDonell Central
By Spencer Flaten, lead writer
Chippewa Falls, WI-
In a battle of unbeaten teams, La Crosse Aquinas defeated McDonell Central 6-2 on Saturday behind a dominant performance from junior pitcher Alex Schulte.
Aquinas took the lead in the top of the 2nd inning after senior Rudy Rott hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the first run of the game. McDonell Central tied it up in the bottom of the frame after a run scored on an error by the Blugolds.
Andy Dunham drove in a run in the top of the 4th to help Aquinas retake the lead, which they would never relinquish. To cap off the victory, the Blugolds pushed across three runs in the 5th and another in the 6th to put the game out of reach.
Nolan Baier hit a screaming home run over the left field fence in the 6th inning, but that was one of the few bright spots for the McDonell offense.
The Blugolds won the game despite only getting four hits in the contest. The Macks’ pitchers walked nine batters in the game, which eventually led to a four run deficit that they couldn’t overcome.
Schulte dominated on the mound for Aquinas. He pitched six strong innings, tallied eight strikeouts, and only allowed five hits in his winning effort. His coach, Scott Bagniefski, was impressed by the effort.
“Alex is one of our go-to guys. I think this was his third start of the year, and what’s great about Alex is nothing fazes him,” Bagniefski said. “Giving up the home run ball, and that kid hit it hard too, he got all of that pitch, but we’d rather have that than walks, and he doesn’t walk too many guys. It [the home run] doesn’t faze him, if you watch his reaction, he lets it go immediately…he’s a moment-to-moment type pitcher and that’s what you want.”
Rott, a Wisconsin Baseball Central Preseason 1st team All-Wisconsinite finished the day 1-for-1 with an RBI, two walks, and a hit by pitch.
“[Being pitched around] definitely makes it a little more difficult to stay focused at the end of the day, it’s almost like getting a pinch-hit at-bat at the end of the game because I haven’t had an at-bat for like an hour, but it happened a little bit last year so I’m getting a little more used to it,” he said. “I’ve just got to do other things to stay focused do in the dugout and keep watching the pitchers to know what they’re going to throw, so when they do come at me with something I can hit I can attack it and not get myself out on stuff.”
Aquinas moved to 7-0 after the win, while McDonell Central fell to 6-1.
