The Arlington Senior Legion baseball team hosted Wakefield on June 19 and lost, 6-2.
“Tough game,” catcher Tanner Kyllo said. “Good pitcher.”
Post 71, which had its Friday night game with Hartington called off by weather, fell behind 4-0 during the first inning and was unable to claw back despite the Eagle reaching base twice. Arlington was hitless before his fourth-inning double.
“Obviously, the first inning was rough, so (assistant) Wesley Martens was like, 'Might as well go out there and take a hack,'” Kyllo said. “So, did that.”
While Wakefield held the home team scoreless at the Washington County Fairgrounds, starting Post 71 pitcher Jackson Stosich bounced back from the shaky, 4-0 first inning and kept his team in the game. The visitors only scored twice more, producing a sac fly in the fourth inning and scoring on another ground ball sacrifice during the fifth.
“It was just a process,” Stosich said after striking out seven batters across six innings on the mound. “It was a little hard to bounce back, but coach (Rusty) Hilgenkamp telling me to be a bulldog and to go straight through it, attack the zone, was real helpful.”
The right-hander's effort allowed Arlington to threaten Wakefield's advantage during the bottom of the sixth frame. Kyllo reached base first, earning a two-out walk.
“I feel like I have a good eye, so I just watched most of them,” he said of the opposition's offerings. “And then Andy and Dallin put two balls in play, which was awesome.”
Andy Misfeldt singled first before Dallin Franzluebbers knocked in the Eagles' first run with another into right field.
“We really needed that,” Kyllo said. “Get the momentum going at least a little bit.”
Misfeldt later scored, too, when Franzluebbers evaded a Wakefield rundown between first and second base. The run pulled Arlington within four, but it was as close as Post 71 would get.
Misfeldt pitched the top of the seventh inning and struck out two batters, but the Eagles were unable to get anything going to complete the comeback during the bottom half even after Burke Quinn reached base.
To win game's like June 19's, Stosich said his team needs to look for better pitches to hit, but that's not all.
“And, probably, throwing more strikes, too,” the pitcher said, taking accountability.
POST 71 SENIOR LINE SCORES
June 19
Wakefield 6, Arlington 2
WAKE 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 — 6
ARLO (5-6) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 — 2
