Vikings broom sweeps at Augustana

It was like being transported back in time.
Or, like awakening from a bad dream.
Right there in front of me was, “The Field of Dreams,” with gorgeous green and brown turf and real grass growing in the outfield. It was right there, basking under a warm blue sky.
Left behind was an ever-increasing flood of water fueled by an ever-melting mound of snow.
While rushing waters blocked the entrance to K. P. Kompelien Field, a hundred miles away the Minneota Vikings were taking the field against Lac qui Parle Valley.
Karras Park, home of Ronner Field on the campus of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, provided the ideal setting for the 2018 baseball opener.
These are desperate times for sports teams in Minneota.
Traveling south to play a local rival may not seem prudent, but it gave the vikings a kick-start to an already abbreviated season.
Lac qui Parle Valley won the first of a three-game set, beating Red Rock Central, 16-8.
Minneota needed a ninth-inning rally to beat Lac qui Parle Valley, 7-6 and finished the day with a 15-1 pounding of Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove.
For coaches like Keven Larson and Assistant Coach JD Pesch, this was a special treat.
“We feel like we went over things pretty well indoors, but there are only so many things you can do — so it’s good to get outside,” said Pesch.
He said the indoors work was good because they got to concentrate on fundamentals, including when to swing at certain pitches and to be aware of the count and know what the pitcher may be throwing — and where he’ll throw it.
“But it was time to move outdoors,” he said.
The Vikings responded to the warm weather and dry field by coming back in the seventh inning against Lac qui Parle Valley to take a one-point, 7-6 win.
They loaded the bases in the seventh inning with nobody out and LqPV’s Wyatt Halvorson got two outs.
But he had to leave the mound because his pitch count reached the maximum level.
“We’ve seen their pitcher (Halvorson) enough and he’s tough. They made some mistakes but we made them too,” said Minneota Coach Keven Larson
Reliever Peyton Mortenson came on and hit Austin Sorenson to force in the tying run and walked Thomas Hennen to score Teddy Pesch with the game’s winning run.
But what broke the Eagles back were five errors that helped Minneota take a 3-0 lead, then 5-1 advantage.
“It seems like every thing we play Minneota we make lots of errors,” moaned Eagle Coach Bart Hill.
Despite the defensive lapses, his squad battled back and took a 6-5 lead in the sixth when they scored three runs. Minneota centerfielder Sam Buysse dropped two balls in the outfield to aid a hitless rally.
Pitchers Teddy Pesch and Jacob Hennen gave up just four hits betweeen them and struck out eight hitters.
“We had some guys on the mound for the first time and they threw strikes. I was impressed,” said Coach Larson.
But it was the bat of Minneota’s Alex Pohlen that was their most effective tool. Pohlen doubled in a run and singled twice for a 3-4 game.
Pesch and Sam Buysse added the only other hits.
After picking up their opening win, they came back with a rout of last year’s State Class A Third Place team, Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove.
The Falcons lost 13 players off that team and are rebuilding.
Pesch responded with three hits, going 3-4 with two runs batted in to lead the offense. Sam Buysse scored a pair of runs and Pohlen added two more hits for a five of six day at the plate. Thomas Hennen, Austin Sorenson, Brant Buysse and Jaymes Moon all added to the hit parade.
Sorenson knocked in three runs in the one-sided win.
“There was just a lot going into this. We graduated a lot of guys last year. Many of these guys have  played a lot of ball but not varsity ball,” said the coach.
“And we’ve been sitting around the last month and a half (due to the weather).” As a result the coach called Monday’s challenge, “More mental than physical.”
He added, “This was the first time we’ve seen fly balls.”
As for Augustana facility itself, Larson said, “It was a fun place to play and hopefully we can come back again next year.”
Scheduling the games took a little effort. “It was something we were trying to do for the last couple weeks and we finally got it going. It was something for the kids to look forward too.”