Cards fall to Lancers

NEW BREMEN - Reece Busse wasn't getting any help from the New Bremen bats and defense, so when Lincolnview started to square him up, the Cardinals didn't offer much response.

The Lancers pushed two runs across in the fifth and broke through for four more in the sixth as New Bremen took a 6-0 loss in a home baseball game on Friday.

"We had a lot of self-inflicted stuff that we have to take care of," New Bremen coach Chad Wells said. "This is game 10, so still a lot of baseball to play. We just have to get better each day."

Busse cruised through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth, hitting Carson Fox with one out before Evan Miller sent a sizzling grounder into the hole in short, where Aaron Thieman made a diving stop but didn't even try a throw.

Caden Hanf hit a grounder to third, where Jonny Heitkamp stepped on the bag for the first out but couldn't get the throw to first for a double play. An error loaded up the bases before Busse got Jared Kesler looking at a pitch on the inside edge.

But the Lancers came right back in the fifth, with Brandon Renner leading off with a single and Landon Price earning a four-pitch walk. Cole Binkley hit a potential double-play ball to first, but Nolan Kuenning could only knock it down and step on first for one out, and Dane Ebel smacked a line drive straight to Nick Alig in centerfield.

As Renner and Price tagged up, Kuenning cut off the throw and tried to get Price at third but spiked the ball in the dirt, and Price popped up and dashed home to make it 2-0.

"If we take care of the baseball, it's a much different score than what the scoreboard shows," Wells said.  

In the sixth, Hanf reached on an error, then moved to second on a groundout, to third on a wild pitch and scored on Kesler's bunt single. Busse walked Renner, and with two outs, Binkley socked two-run single to make it 6-0.

Dane Ebel singled and Binkley scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0, and Busse left after the sixth after allowing eight hits and six runs, two earned.

"I thought he battled tonight and gave us a great effort," Wells said.

New Bremen, which only had two hits on the day, put runners on with a hit-by-pitch and an error in the final two innings, but Lincolnview's Jack Dunlap got two inning-ending grounders to finish his first career win.

The Cardinals stranded five runners, but put together a quality chance in the fourth with a two-out rally. Drew McNaughton singled and Vince Hulse and Busse walked to load the bases, but Heitkamp hit a fly ball to shallow right-center that Kesler easily nabbed.

"Disappointing, but timely hitting comes and goes," Wells said. "It's never going to be consistent, so you just have to continue to give yourself as many opportunities as you can put together."

New Bremen hosts Franklin Monroe on Monday.