Prep Baseball: Defense carries the Pirates past Lake Park-Audubon 4-2

Verndale didn’t let the long layoff affected them—instead the defense turned two double plays and Clay Cottrell retired the seventh with three consecutive strikeouts to lift the Pirates to a 5-2 non-conference win over Lake Park-Audubon on Friday.

“After not playing a game in eleven days it was nice to see the boys show up and make the plays behind Clay and get him the run support.” Verndale coach Matt Parker said.

The Pirates notched two runs in the opening frame, only to have the Raiders answer with a pair in the top of the second inning.

Verndale then gave Cottrell all the run support they needed with a run in the bottom half of the second and then another in the third. The Pirates defense did the rest.

“We got the defense we needed tonight, throwing a guy out from the outfield and turning double plays.” Parker added. “It was a fun game to be a part of, and the weather was beautiful.”

Dustin Motchenbacher led the Pirates at the plate; going 1-for-4 with a double, run scored and drove in a run. Mike Hejhal and Issaac Schmitz each tallied an RBI single.

Cottrell finished with five strikeouts, collected a hit and scored a run for Verndale, which improved to 4-7.

Lake Park at Verndale on May 14
Pirates 4, Raiders 2
Lake Park 0 2 0 0 0 0 0—2 5 4
Verndale 2 1 1 0 0 0 0—4 5 2
WP: Clay Cottrell (Verndale)
LP: Chad Dehler (LP-A)
Verndale—Mike Hejhal 1-2, RBI; Clay Cottrell 1-2, R; Isaac Schmitz 1-3, RBI, Dustin Motchenbacher 1-4, 2B, R, RBI; Cody Yungbauer RBI
Lake Park-Audubon—No stats available