Late Rally Lifts ROCORI over Detroit Lakes Baseball

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – The Lakers played their first game of the season at the historic Washington Ballpark on a chilly Friday afternoon. The Lakers led ROCORI 6-3 after five innings, but the Spartans scored five runs in the final two frames to steal the section matchup 8-6.

Jordan Tucker started the game on the mound for Detroit Lakes and allowed five run on eight hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked three.

The Spartans scored a run in the top of the first before the Lakers answered with a three-run second inning. Carson Rogstad had an RBI single that scored Kyler Johnston to start the Laker scoring, and Bradley Swiers had a two-run single that scored Rogstad and Mason Omberg.

Brady Schafer hit a two-run home run off Tucker in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 3-3, but the Lakers strung together a couple of doubles in the bottom of the inning: Omberg, Tucker, and Grady Kirchner each hit doubles to the wall in a three-run bottom of the fourth.

With the Lakers leading 6-3 in the top of the sixth, Tucker gave up back-to-back doubles to Brady Blattner and Peyton Randall in a two-run inning for the Spartans as ROCORI pulled within a run at 6-5.

Noah Rieber relieved Tucker in the top of the seventh to shut the door on ROCORI. After getting an 0-2 count on the leadoff man Joel Sowada, Rieber hit him with a pitch. Then gave up the game-tying double to Beck Lesh. Two batters later, Randall knocked in the go-ahead run for the Spartans with an RBI double. Randall would score on a Cole Fuchs single to make it 8-6.

The Lakers went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the innings.

The Lakers scored six runs on nine hits and committed two errors. ROCORI scored their eight runs on eleven hits with one error.

The Lakers fall to 11-4 with the loss and 1-2 in Section 8AAA competition. They’ll host Pine River-Backus at Washington Park on Monday.

ROCORI – 1 0 0 2 0 2 3 – 8 11 1

DL – 0 3 0 3 0 0 – 6 9 2