ALBANY - Monroe's offense came alive in the sixth inning to take a 3-1 lead, and an injured Kris Rieder held off Albany on the mound to pick up the 3-2 win Monday, in American Legions Senior League play.
"My arm felt good, but my back hurt a lot," Rieder said.
The starter for Monroe, Rieder was solid on the mound all game, despite tweaking his back during an at bat in the sixth inning.
"I knew I had to dig down deep," Rieder said.
In addition to Rieder's solid performance on the mound, Monroe had a slew of players step up in the clutch again to earn the win. Trailing 1-0 after five innings, Taylor Weckerly pelted the first pitch he saw from Albany pitcher Steve West to tie the game in the top of the sixth.
Rieder walked and was pulled for a courtesy runner and Mike Rear then doubled to set up runners on second and third. After Mitch Marty lined out to left, defensive replacement Taylor Riese came up with yet another go-ahead RBI single. On Sunday, Riese hit the game winner in the bottom of the seventh against Evansville, and against Albany, his bloop down the right field line gave Monroe a 2-1 lead.
"I've been hitting the ball good the opposite way," Riese said. "I put the ball in play and make things happen. It didn't really matter to me if it was a line drive or not."
Fellow defensive replacement, left fielder Drew Geissbuhler, also came through in the clutch. With runners at the corners, Geissbuhler hit an outside pitch on a hit and run to right to score what would become the game-winning run.
"It ended up being on the outside so I just went the other way with it," Geissbuhler said. "In school ball I got (designated hit) for, so I only got to swing the bat every once in a while. But it definitely helps my confidence getting a hit like this."
Albany reliever Carson Scheidegger got his team out of the jam and into the bottom half of the inning.
"Carson always does a nice job for us. He's been our Mr. Reliable," Albany coach Brian Dahl said. "Steve (West) hasn't really pitched much this year, but he did a nice job."
Rieder took the mound again despite the noticeable pain of each pitch. However, fighting through the pain he struck out the first two batters he faced in the sixth, and Taylor Riese robbed West of a base hit with a diving grab in shallow right.
"Our defense was really helping me out all game," Rieder said. "It gives a little bit of relief out there."
Albany scored its first run in the opening inning. West doubled with one out and went to third on a fielder's choice. He scored when Mike Elmer got into a rundown between first and second.
In the seventh, Albany found itself behind by two runs. Elmer led off the inning with a double to deep left and went to third on a wild pitch that bounced off the fence and almost met him at third.
Drew Peach drove in Elmer with one out with a single to left. Scheidegger fouled out to third, as Weckerly reached up and over the fence along the third base line. Rieder then walked Boomer Detra and Cody Schultz reached on an error by Monroe shortstop Cory Kundert to load the bases.
Rieder took a deep breath and struck out the final batter to end the game.
"It's too bad we left bases loaded to end the game, but that happens - that's baseball.," Dahl said. "It was a good baseball game. It would have been fun to watch."
Rieder finished the game with 12 strikeouts, a walk, and four hits. West had two of those hits and finished with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Scheidegger had four Ks in 2 1/3 innings of work for Albany.
Monroe finished with just six hits in the game, but also had five walks and a hit by pitch. Mike Rear walked, was hit and had a double and Cory Kundert also reached safely three times.
"My arm felt good, but my back hurt a lot," Rieder said.
The starter for Monroe, Rieder was solid on the mound all game, despite tweaking his back during an at bat in the sixth inning.
"I knew I had to dig down deep," Rieder said.
In addition to Rieder's solid performance on the mound, Monroe had a slew of players step up in the clutch again to earn the win. Trailing 1-0 after five innings, Taylor Weckerly pelted the first pitch he saw from Albany pitcher Steve West to tie the game in the top of the sixth.
Rieder walked and was pulled for a courtesy runner and Mike Rear then doubled to set up runners on second and third. After Mitch Marty lined out to left, defensive replacement Taylor Riese came up with yet another go-ahead RBI single. On Sunday, Riese hit the game winner in the bottom of the seventh against Evansville, and against Albany, his bloop down the right field line gave Monroe a 2-1 lead.
"I've been hitting the ball good the opposite way," Riese said. "I put the ball in play and make things happen. It didn't really matter to me if it was a line drive or not."
Fellow defensive replacement, left fielder Drew Geissbuhler, also came through in the clutch. With runners at the corners, Geissbuhler hit an outside pitch on a hit and run to right to score what would become the game-winning run.
"It ended up being on the outside so I just went the other way with it," Geissbuhler said. "In school ball I got (designated hit) for, so I only got to swing the bat every once in a while. But it definitely helps my confidence getting a hit like this."
Albany reliever Carson Scheidegger got his team out of the jam and into the bottom half of the inning.
"Carson always does a nice job for us. He's been our Mr. Reliable," Albany coach Brian Dahl said. "Steve (West) hasn't really pitched much this year, but he did a nice job."
Rieder took the mound again despite the noticeable pain of each pitch. However, fighting through the pain he struck out the first two batters he faced in the sixth, and Taylor Riese robbed West of a base hit with a diving grab in shallow right.
"Our defense was really helping me out all game," Rieder said. "It gives a little bit of relief out there."
Albany scored its first run in the opening inning. West doubled with one out and went to third on a fielder's choice. He scored when Mike Elmer got into a rundown between first and second.
In the seventh, Albany found itself behind by two runs. Elmer led off the inning with a double to deep left and went to third on a wild pitch that bounced off the fence and almost met him at third.
Drew Peach drove in Elmer with one out with a single to left. Scheidegger fouled out to third, as Weckerly reached up and over the fence along the third base line. Rieder then walked Boomer Detra and Cody Schultz reached on an error by Monroe shortstop Cory Kundert to load the bases.
Rieder took a deep breath and struck out the final batter to end the game.
"It's too bad we left bases loaded to end the game, but that happens - that's baseball.," Dahl said. "It was a good baseball game. It would have been fun to watch."
Rieder finished the game with 12 strikeouts, a walk, and four hits. West had two of those hits and finished with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Scheidegger had four Ks in 2 1/3 innings of work for Albany.
Monroe finished with just six hits in the game, but also had five walks and a hit by pitch. Mike Rear walked, was hit and had a double and Cory Kundert also reached safely three times.
