ALBANY - By the end of Albany's 7-6 loss to New Glarus in a non-conference game, the Comets' errors gleamed brighter than their three home runs.
"Mental mistakes, fielding mistakes, baserunning mistakes - they all hurt us in this ball game," said Albany coach Brian Dahl, whose team committed seven fielding errors and also had a crucial baserunning mistake in the third inning. "We hit the ball hard for the most part all night. It's just that the mental mistakes and errors hurt us."
Boomer Detra, Tyler Van Dusen and Cody Schulz all went yard for Albany in the final two innings, but it was the fourth-inning home run by New Glarus' Evan Hauge that turned the game around.
New Glarus coach Warren Howard was pleased with the solid at bats he got from Hauge, his hitter in the 2-hole who reached base four times in five tries and also hit a double.
"Evan's hit the ball real well lately," Howard said. "He hit one out last week. He's done a super job."
Albany took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Detra and Josh Peters doubled. New Glarus then grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, thanks to an error and some timely hitting.
"We started out with two doubles, and then we went flat," Dahl said.
The Comets struggled at the plate in the middle innings, and Detra was pulled from the mound with one out in the fourth. After beaming his fastball past several Knight hitters - to the tune of four strikeouts in the first two innings - the pitch the senior would like to have back ended up in the woods in left center.
"It was a pitching mistake. He hung his curveball a little too high, but the guy hit the crap out of the ball," said Dahl, who pulled Schulz out of center into relief. "Boomer started off real well. We just didn't play very good overall baseball tonight."
New Glarus scored four runs in the fourth to pick up a 6-1 advantage. That lead stood until the sixth, when Detra got his revenge against Brandon Gerber. Detra led off the inning with a laser to left that awoke the bench.
"Boomer's leadoff homer did spark us," Dahl said. "I'm very happy with how our guys did come back. We were down 6-1 coming into the sixth inning and we made a game of it."
Gerber was meticulous on the mound all game, working a changeup and curveball into his repertoire while placing his fastball all over the strike zone.
"Brandon Gerber gutted it out. He's my No. 2 pitcher now. Tyler Kreklow left the team to play AAU basketball, so Brandon will be my No. 2 pitcher," Howard said. Gerber struck out six in the complete game win.
Van Dusen hit a 2-run shot three batters after Detra went yard in the sixth to make it 6-4. New Glarus picked up an insurance run - which was the difference - in the top of the seventh.
But in the bottom of the seventh, the Comets stayed alive again. Detra hit a two-out double and Schulz hit a home run three pitches later. Peters walked, which brought Van Dusen back to the plate with a chance to win the game.
"Brandon's a senior. I asked him what he had left, and he said, 'I'll get him,'" Howard said about a trip to the mound in the seventh.
Van Dusen flew out to left field to end the game, about 30 feet short of the fence.
"Being a sophomore in a pressure situation, with the tying run on first base you want to make decent contact," Dahl said. "That's what he did. He stepped up and hit the ball hard. It just fell short. A little more on top of it and it might have been a base hit. A little more solid, it might have went out of the park again."
Detra also doubled twice in the game, scored three runs and reached base all four times he stepped to the plate. Peters was just 1 for 2, but also had two walks. Albany was 8 for 29 (.275) at the plate while New Glarus went just 4 for 32 (.125).
"Hitting wise, we did well," Dahl said. "We just hit them to people, and New Glarus made some nice plays on us."
"Mental mistakes, fielding mistakes, baserunning mistakes - they all hurt us in this ball game," said Albany coach Brian Dahl, whose team committed seven fielding errors and also had a crucial baserunning mistake in the third inning. "We hit the ball hard for the most part all night. It's just that the mental mistakes and errors hurt us."
Boomer Detra, Tyler Van Dusen and Cody Schulz all went yard for Albany in the final two innings, but it was the fourth-inning home run by New Glarus' Evan Hauge that turned the game around.
New Glarus coach Warren Howard was pleased with the solid at bats he got from Hauge, his hitter in the 2-hole who reached base four times in five tries and also hit a double.
"Evan's hit the ball real well lately," Howard said. "He hit one out last week. He's done a super job."
Albany took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Detra and Josh Peters doubled. New Glarus then grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, thanks to an error and some timely hitting.
"We started out with two doubles, and then we went flat," Dahl said.
The Comets struggled at the plate in the middle innings, and Detra was pulled from the mound with one out in the fourth. After beaming his fastball past several Knight hitters - to the tune of four strikeouts in the first two innings - the pitch the senior would like to have back ended up in the woods in left center.
"It was a pitching mistake. He hung his curveball a little too high, but the guy hit the crap out of the ball," said Dahl, who pulled Schulz out of center into relief. "Boomer started off real well. We just didn't play very good overall baseball tonight."
New Glarus scored four runs in the fourth to pick up a 6-1 advantage. That lead stood until the sixth, when Detra got his revenge against Brandon Gerber. Detra led off the inning with a laser to left that awoke the bench.
"Boomer's leadoff homer did spark us," Dahl said. "I'm very happy with how our guys did come back. We were down 6-1 coming into the sixth inning and we made a game of it."
Gerber was meticulous on the mound all game, working a changeup and curveball into his repertoire while placing his fastball all over the strike zone.
"Brandon Gerber gutted it out. He's my No. 2 pitcher now. Tyler Kreklow left the team to play AAU basketball, so Brandon will be my No. 2 pitcher," Howard said. Gerber struck out six in the complete game win.
Van Dusen hit a 2-run shot three batters after Detra went yard in the sixth to make it 6-4. New Glarus picked up an insurance run - which was the difference - in the top of the seventh.
But in the bottom of the seventh, the Comets stayed alive again. Detra hit a two-out double and Schulz hit a home run three pitches later. Peters walked, which brought Van Dusen back to the plate with a chance to win the game.
"Brandon's a senior. I asked him what he had left, and he said, 'I'll get him,'" Howard said about a trip to the mound in the seventh.
Van Dusen flew out to left field to end the game, about 30 feet short of the fence.
"Being a sophomore in a pressure situation, with the tying run on first base you want to make decent contact," Dahl said. "That's what he did. He stepped up and hit the ball hard. It just fell short. A little more on top of it and it might have been a base hit. A little more solid, it might have went out of the park again."
Detra also doubled twice in the game, scored three runs and reached base all four times he stepped to the plate. Peters was just 1 for 2, but also had two walks. Albany was 8 for 29 (.275) at the plate while New Glarus went just 4 for 32 (.125).
"Hitting wise, we did well," Dahl said. "We just hit them to people, and New Glarus made some nice plays on us."
