Wednesday, May 3, 2023

SLP Orioles Hold Off Hopkins Royals

 Two former Lake Conference rivals met Wednesday night as Danny Montanez's two RBI double in the bottom of the first inning led the St. Louis Park Orioles to a 3-2 win over the Hopkins Royals at Derrick Keller Field at Dakota Park.  

The Royals had a serious threat in the top of the first inning when the had the bases loaded but Gabe Ottmar hit into a force play at second base to end the threat.  In the bottom of the inning, the Orioles would vault into the lead with three runs, capitalizing on two Royal errors.  Graham Sullivan led off with a single, went to second on an error by Hopkins shortstop Dylan Lindstrom then would cross the plate on Zach Helfmann's fly ball that went off Ottmar's glove in left field.  Then Montanez came to the plate and hit a two run double to score Sullivan and Geibar Silva to put St. Louis Park ahead by three.  

Hopkins would attempt to battle back as they stole six bases through six innings.  Drew Charney and Marcus Champagne would record two stolen bases in the same inning but none of them would lead to runs.  

In the top of the seventh, the Royals had a chance to tie the game without the aid of a hit as the Orioles would commit three errors.  Champagne drew a walk and Charney was hit by a pitch,  Ethan Sawatsky and Ottmar would reach base on fielding errors that would cut the lead to one.  But Dylan Strozinsky, batting for Dylan Lindstrom, grounded out to the third baseman Ryan Moran to preserve the victory.  

St. Louis Park improved their record to 4-3 and will host a doubleheader against the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars Thursday, May 4 at 5 PM at Derrick Keller Field.  Both games will consist of five innings.  Hopkins fell to 3-6 and will return to action on Friday, May 5 to face the Eden Prairie Eagles at 7:15 PM at round Lake Stadium in Eden Prairie.  

No comments:

Post a Comment