The Lakers had a seven-game winning streak snapped by Paynesville, Friday, but Minnewaska Area is still two wins away from sharing the WCC title with Montevideo after winning four more conference games last week.

The Lakers improved to 11-1 in the WCC and 13-4 overall with a pair of conference sweeps over Benson and BOLD last week.  In the results that follow is also information about the team’s 5-4 win over ACGC, May 12, and the 14-1 loss to Paynesville.

If the Lakers can beat Morris Area twice, Tuesday (tomorrow) at home, the Lakers will share the WCC title with Montevideo, which finished league play 13-1.

Also coming up this week is the start of the Section 3AA playoffs, Saturday and right now, the Lakers look like the fourth or fifth seed, depending upon the how things turn out against Morris Area.

Minnewaska 5, ACGC 4

Dylan Alexander’s solo homerun in the seventh inning gave Minnewaska a 5-4 victory at ACGC, Friday, May 12 for the team’s fifth victory of the week.

Minnewaska Area scored three runs in the second inning to go up 3-1, but ACGC scored a run in the second and two more in the third to take a temporary 4-3 lead.

The Lakers, who outhit the Falcons 8-4, tied it up with a run in the fourth, but the score stayed that way until the seventh when Alexander hit his homer to lead off the seventh.

Alexander was 2-for-4 with a triple in the first and homer in the seventh, while Noah Jensen was 2-for-3 with a run, double and hit-by-pitch.

PJ Johnson started on the mound for Minnewaska, but he left after one inning after giving up one run.  Alex Panitzke pitched the next two innings, giving up three more runs (two earned) and Alexander pitched the final four innings and earned the victory on the mound.  He gave up just one hit and struck out six.

Also coming through with hits for the Lakers were Jack Majerus, Austin Weber, Panitzke and Thomas Poegel.

Waska 13-10, Benson 2-2

The Lakers improved to 11-3 for the season with a doubleheader sweep of Benson last Tuesday night at home, 13-2 and 10-2.  It was the sixth and seventh-straight wins for Minnewaska Area this spring.

Noah Jensen had the big bat for the Lakers, going 4-for-7 with a pair of doubles and a triple during the twinbill.

The Lakers led the first game 4-2 through five innings before putting a six-spot on the board in the sixth to earn the 10-2 victory. Dylan Alexander picked up the win, giving up four hits and one earned run over 6 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts.

Offensively, Jensen was 2-for-3 with three runs, an RBI, double and triple, while Austin Weber also had two hits, going 2-for-4 with two RBI, a double and stolen base.

Adding one hit each for the Lakers were Conner Erickson, Alexander, PJ Johnson and Thomas Poegel.

•  In the second game, the Lakers scored seven runs in the top-half of the first inning and ended the game early due to the 10-run rule. Austin Weber, the second of three Laker pitchers, was credited with the victory, while three players had two hits each to lead the offense.  Benson managed just one hit on offense.

Noah Jensen was 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and RBI, while Austin Ballhagen was 2-for-3 with a run, two RBI, a walk and stolen base, and Thomas Poegel was also 2-for-3 with a run, three RBI, a hit-by-pitch and stolen base.

Adding one hit each for the Lakers were Conner Erickson, Levi Johnson, Dylan Alexander, Austin Weber and Alex Panitzke.

Paynesville 14, Waska 1

The Lakers fell at Paynesville, Friday, 14-1 as the Bulldogs scored at least one run in every inning and had three homeruns.

Minnewaska Area meanwhile, managed just one hit by Jack Majerus, who tripled in the fourth inning and pinchrunner Conner Erickson came around to score.

Alex Panitzke, the first of three Minnewaska pitchers, took the loss, dropping to 2-1 overall for the season. Two players had three hits each for the Bulldogs and three had homeruns.

Waska 10-10, BOLD 0-4

The Lakers rapped out 23 total hits during a 10-0, 10-4 doubleheader sweep of BOLD, Saturday at home.  Noah Jensen had another big day, going 5-for-7 to give him his fourth and fifth multiple hit games in the last six outings.

In the first game, which went only 4 1/2 innings, Jensen was 2-for-3 with two runs, Austin Weber was 2-for-3 with three RBI, and Austin Ballhagen was 2-for-3 with a run and RBI to lead the offense, while PJ Johnson and Levi Johnson combined for a one-hit shutout. Also coming through with hits for the Lakers were Jack Majerus, Dylan Alexander, PJ Johnson, Levi Johnson and Thomas Poegel.

•  In the second game, the Lakers scored at least one run in five of their seven at-bats and Noah Jensen and PJ Johnson led the offense with three hits each.  Jensen was 3-for-4 with two runs, two doubles and a walk, while Johnson was 3-for-5 with a double, run and three RBI.

Levi Johnson also had a big game, going 2-for-2, while Marc Gruber, Dylan Alexander, Austin Ballhagen and Conner Erickson also had hits for the Lakers.  Earning the win was Alexander, who pitched the first three innings before giving way to Austin Weber.

Waska 5, at ACGC 4

Waska (9-3) 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 — 5 8 2

ACGC 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 — 4 4 0

HITTING:  WASKA-Dylan Alexander 2-for-4, 1 run, RBI, triple, HR; Noah Jensen 2-for-3, 1 run, double, hbp; Jack Majerus 1-for-3, RBI, hbp, sb; Austin Weber 1-for-4, 1 run, double; Alex Panitzke 1-for-4; Thomas Poegel 1-for-2, 1 run, 2 RBI, sb; Levi Johnson RBI, bb; Austin Ballhagen 0-for-1, 1 run, 2 bb, 2 sb . . . ACGC-four with one hit each

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-PJ Johnson 1-1-1-1-0-0; Alex Panitzke 2-2-3-2-5-3; Dylan Alexander (W, 3-0)  4-1-0-0-0-6 . . . ACGC-Morrison 5-6-4-4-3-4; UA (L) 2-2-1-1-0-1

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at Waska 10, Benson 2

Benson 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 — 2 4 2

Waska (10-3) 0 1 3 0 0 6 x — 10 8 1

HITTING:  WASKA-Noah Jensen 2-for-3, 3 runs, RBI, bb, double, triple; Austin Weber 2-for-4, 2 RBI, double, sb; Conner Erickson 1-for-3, 2 runs, bb, 2 sb; Dylan Alexander 1-for-4, 1 run, 2 RBI; PJ Johnson 1-for-1, 1 run, 2 RBI, bb, hbp; Thomas Poegel 1-for-2, bb; Levi Johnson 0-for-2, 1 run, 2 bb, sb; Alex Panitzke RBI; Austin Ballhagen 0-for-1, 1 run, 3 bb, sb; Caden Larson 0-for-1, 1 run  . . . BEN-Grant Gunlogson 2-for-4, RBI, double

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-Dylan Alexander (W, 4-0)  6 2/3-4-2-1-2-9; Austin Weber 1/3-0-0-0-0-1. . . BEN-Alex Claussen (L)  4-6-4-4-3-5; Max Nygaard 1 2/3-2-6-6-6-0; Noah Goossen 1/3-0-0-0-0-0

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at Waska 13, Benson 2

Waska (11-3) 7 0 0 3 3 — 13 11 1

Benson 0 0 2 0 0 — 2 1 4

HITTING:  WASKA-Noah Jensen 2-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, double; Austin Ballhagen 2-for-3, 1 run, 2 RBI, bb, sb; Thomas Poegel 2-for-3, 1 run, 3 RBI, sb, hbp; Conner Erickson 1-for-1, 1 run, bb, sb; Levi Johnson 1-for-2, 1 run, RBI, 2 bb, sb; Dylan Alexander 1-for-3, 1 run, RBI, triple, hbp; Austin Weber 1-for-4, sb; Alex Panitzke 1-for-2, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 bb, double; PJ Johnson 0-for-1, 3 runs, 2 bb, hbp, sb . . . BEN-one hit

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-Alex Panitzke 2-0-0-0-1-5; Austin Weber (W, 1-0)  2-1-2-1-2-5; Austin Ballhagen 1-0-0-0-1-3 . . . BEN-Garrett Lenz (L)  1-6-7-7-2-1; Jack Storlien 2 1/3-2-3-2-3-2; Zach Wrobleski 1 1/3-3-3-3-3-4; Noah Goossen 1/3-0-0-0-0-1 

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at Paynesville 14, Waska 1

Waska (11-4) 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 1 3

Paynesville 4 1 3 6 x — 14 13 1

HITTING:  WASKA-Jack Majerus 1-for-2, triple; Conner Erickson 1 run . . . PAY-Lieser 3-for-4, 2 runs, 3 RBI, HR; VanderBeek 3-for-3, 1 run, RBI, HR

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-Alex Panitzke (L, 2-1)  1-6-4-3-0-0; Austin Ballhagen 2 1/3-6-8-7-3-0; Caden Larson 2/3-1-2-1-0-0 . . . PAY-Fuchs (W)  5-1-1-0-1-5

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at Waska 10, BOLD 0

BOLD 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 1 6

Waska (12-4) 6 2 2 0 x — 10 11 0

HITTING:  WASKA-Noah Jensen 2-for-3, 2 runs, sb; Austin Weber 2-for-3, 1 run, 3 RBI, double; Austin Ballhagen 2-for-3, 1 run, RBI, sb; Jack Majerus 1-for-2, 2 runs, bb, sb; Dylan Alexander 1-for-3; PJ Johnson 1-for-3, 2 runs; Levi Johnson 1-for-3; Thomas Poegel 1-for-4, 1 run, sb; Alex Panitzke 1 run. . . BOLD-1 hit

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-PJ Johnson (W, 4-1)  4-0-0-0-0-5; Levi Johnson 1-1-0-0-0-0. . . BOLD-Sigurdson (L)  4-11-10-2-1-3

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at Waska 10, BOLD 4

Waska (13-4) 2 0 4 2 0 1 1 — 10 12 2

BOLD 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 — 4 7 8

HITTING:  WASKA-Noah Jensen 3-for-4, 2 runs, 2 doubles, bb; PJ Johnson 3-for-5, 1 run, 3 RBI, double; Levi Johnson 2-for-2, 1 run, RBI, bb, double, sb; Marc Gruber 1-for-3, 1 run, bb; Dylan Alexander 1-for-4, 2 runs, bb, sb; Austin Ballhagen 1-for-4, bb, sb; Conner Erickson 1-for-3, bb, sb; Ale Panitzke 1 run, bb, sb; Austin Weber 0-for-2, 1 run, 2 RBI, 3 bb; Thomas Poegel 1 run, sb. . . BOLD-Kaiser 2-for-4, 2 RBI; O’Flann 2-for-4

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-Dylan Alexander (W, 3-0)  3-3-3Baseball team two wins from title-2-1-5; Austin Weber 4-4-1-0-1-4 . . . BOLD-Benson 1-0-2-1-6-0; Malvin (L)  4 2/3-9-7-4-2-4; O’Flann 1 1/3-3-1-1-2-0

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