Already with a school record in wins, the Spirit Lake baseball team ended their regular season on a high note and kept their hopes for a Lakes Conference title alive with a 3-1 defeat of Storm Lake, their first win over the Tornadoes in five years. The Indians scored their three runs in the fourth on two hits and three Storm Lake errors. Mitch Peschon, pitching on senior night, limited the Tornadoes to one run on five hits while striking out five. He helped his own cause by going 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Cody Poock had a hit and a RBI, while Paul Brown scored a run and registered one hit. Nolan Cone took the loss for Storm Lake despite striking out six batters. He also drove in the lone run, scored by Nic Seaman, in the fifth inning. Storm Lake, which has clinched a share of the title at 11-2 in conference, will host Spencer on Wednesday. Spirit Lake wraps up their regular season at 11-3 in the league, will need the Tigers to win. The Indians will enter the postseason with a 21-6 record overall and having won nine of their last ten games.
Elsewhere in the Lakes, Spencer’s Brandt Illg led the Tigers to a 13-5 road win over Western Christian. The senior surrendered two hits and struck out ten as the game’s winning pitcher, while also driving in two runs on two hits at the plate. Tayler Tatman also pitched in with three base hits and two RBI. Spencer is 8-5 in the conference and 13-9 overall, and will travel to Storm Lake this evening.
Estherville-Lincoln Central topped Emmetsburg by an 8-3 margin. The Midgets end the season at 5-9 in the league, while the E-Hawks drop to 0-14.
Harris-Lake Park opened the final week of the regular season with an impressive 2-0 win over 8th-ranked Storm Lake St. Mary’s. Nathan Kyle scattered two hits and stuck out nine as the winning pitcher. Connor Gunderson led the offensive attack by going 2-for-3. The Wolves are now 6-14 with a home contest against George-Little Rock on Wednesday.
In the Siouxland Conference, George-Little Rock earned a 4-2 defeat of Sibley-Ocheyedan.
