HOLLANDALE - Pecatonica senior Lucas McKeon didn't feel comfortable with his swing in batting practice Monday before a game against Albany.
McKeon shook off the doubts and belted a three-run home run to left off Albany's Ethan Pfeuti in the first inning to help the Vikings knock off the Comets 10-6 in Hollandale.
"In BP (batting practice) I wasn't having a good day," said McKeon, who went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. "I was just swinging too hard and off rhythm. In my first at-bat, when I hit it (home run) - it felt amazing. I knew that it was gone right away."
Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said McKeon's home run set the tone early in the game. Pecatonica (6-1, 3-1 Six Rivers East) pounded out 15 hits.
"We had good at-bats," Strommen said. "It's probably our best and most consistent performance."
The Vikings tacked on three more runs in the second. Pecatonica junior Drew Schliem, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs scored, singled to center and sophomore Brooks Chandler lined an RBI single to left to give the Vikings a 4-0 lead. Senior Tyler Hodgson, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, ripped a double to left. McKeon followed by reaching on an error, which scored two runs to give the Vikings a 6-0 lead.
"Being a young pitcher you always want to have good run support," McKeon said of Pecatonica freshman starting pitcher A.J. Hendrickson. "I think we went out and gave him (Hendrickson) some run support and he got confidence. He pitched a heck of a game."
Pecatonica's Kyle Kleppe, who went 3-for-3, roped an RBI single to right in the fourth and Hodgson delivered an RBI single to right in the fifth to give the Vikings a 9-0 lead. It appeared the Vikings were on the verge of winning by the 10-run rule.
"I think we just didn't come prepared to start out the game," said Albany coach Brandon Bakken, whose team dropped to 0-6, 0-1.
Hendrickson turned a in a solid performance in his first varsity start. He pitched five innings of shutout ball and gave up just one hit and only one runner reached second base.
"He's a smart pitcher," Bakken said of Hendrickson. "They have a lot of guys who can hit their spots. They are well-coached and know what pitch to throw when. If we put the ball in play more in the first couple of innings, anything can happen."
Kleppe came in as a relief pitcher in the sixth and the Comets exploded, rallying for six runs on seven hits in 2/3 of an inning. Pfeuti and senior Mitchell Kauk both singled to left. Albany freshman Brock Gilkes lined a single to center to load the bases. Albany junior Joey McNaught ripped a two-run single to left and sophomore Cole Trapp knocked in a run on a groundout to cut the Vikings' lead to 9-4. Junior Devin Deegan beat out an infield single. Albany junior Mitchell Trow then smoked a two-run double to slice the Vikings' lead to 9-6. Chandler came in as a relief pitcher and got Albany sophomore Tyler Dahl to ground out.
Strommen said he didn't consider having Hendrickson finish the game to build confidence. He didn't want to burn him out with four games this week.
"I thought with five innings and with a game against Barneveld tomorrow, we need him to play center field for us," Strommen said. "I didn't want to wear his arm out.
"A.J. did a really nice job. He located his fastball well. Kyle came in and he just struggled with his location. Chandler did a great job of coming in and working out of a jam."
Chandler pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings to preserve the win. Pfeuti pitched two innings and gave up six runs on eight hits. One of the bright spots for the Comets was the relief pitching from Trow. Trow pitched four innings and gave up four runs on seven hits.
"Today, he (Trow) pitched well enough to keep us in the game," Bakken said. "We are trying to find guys who are consistent. We can't take anything away from Pec. Pec is an awfully good team."
Pecatonica will play Tuesday at Barneveld. Even though it's early in the season, a win over Barneveld would catapult the Vikings into conference championship contenders.
"There are 22 conference games, and this is just one," Strommen said. "If we win, it would be a big confidence booster in that regard."
McKeon shook off the doubts and belted a three-run home run to left off Albany's Ethan Pfeuti in the first inning to help the Vikings knock off the Comets 10-6 in Hollandale.
"In BP (batting practice) I wasn't having a good day," said McKeon, who went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. "I was just swinging too hard and off rhythm. In my first at-bat, when I hit it (home run) - it felt amazing. I knew that it was gone right away."
Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said McKeon's home run set the tone early in the game. Pecatonica (6-1, 3-1 Six Rivers East) pounded out 15 hits.
"We had good at-bats," Strommen said. "It's probably our best and most consistent performance."
The Vikings tacked on three more runs in the second. Pecatonica junior Drew Schliem, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs scored, singled to center and sophomore Brooks Chandler lined an RBI single to left to give the Vikings a 4-0 lead. Senior Tyler Hodgson, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, ripped a double to left. McKeon followed by reaching on an error, which scored two runs to give the Vikings a 6-0 lead.
"Being a young pitcher you always want to have good run support," McKeon said of Pecatonica freshman starting pitcher A.J. Hendrickson. "I think we went out and gave him (Hendrickson) some run support and he got confidence. He pitched a heck of a game."
Pecatonica's Kyle Kleppe, who went 3-for-3, roped an RBI single to right in the fourth and Hodgson delivered an RBI single to right in the fifth to give the Vikings a 9-0 lead. It appeared the Vikings were on the verge of winning by the 10-run rule.
"I think we just didn't come prepared to start out the game," said Albany coach Brandon Bakken, whose team dropped to 0-6, 0-1.
Hendrickson turned a in a solid performance in his first varsity start. He pitched five innings of shutout ball and gave up just one hit and only one runner reached second base.
"He's a smart pitcher," Bakken said of Hendrickson. "They have a lot of guys who can hit their spots. They are well-coached and know what pitch to throw when. If we put the ball in play more in the first couple of innings, anything can happen."
Kleppe came in as a relief pitcher in the sixth and the Comets exploded, rallying for six runs on seven hits in 2/3 of an inning. Pfeuti and senior Mitchell Kauk both singled to left. Albany freshman Brock Gilkes lined a single to center to load the bases. Albany junior Joey McNaught ripped a two-run single to left and sophomore Cole Trapp knocked in a run on a groundout to cut the Vikings' lead to 9-4. Junior Devin Deegan beat out an infield single. Albany junior Mitchell Trow then smoked a two-run double to slice the Vikings' lead to 9-6. Chandler came in as a relief pitcher and got Albany sophomore Tyler Dahl to ground out.
Strommen said he didn't consider having Hendrickson finish the game to build confidence. He didn't want to burn him out with four games this week.
"I thought with five innings and with a game against Barneveld tomorrow, we need him to play center field for us," Strommen said. "I didn't want to wear his arm out.
"A.J. did a really nice job. He located his fastball well. Kyle came in and he just struggled with his location. Chandler did a great job of coming in and working out of a jam."
Chandler pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings to preserve the win. Pfeuti pitched two innings and gave up six runs on eight hits. One of the bright spots for the Comets was the relief pitching from Trow. Trow pitched four innings and gave up four runs on seven hits.
"Today, he (Trow) pitched well enough to keep us in the game," Bakken said. "We are trying to find guys who are consistent. We can't take anything away from Pec. Pec is an awfully good team."
Pecatonica will play Tuesday at Barneveld. Even though it's early in the season, a win over Barneveld would catapult the Vikings into conference championship contenders.
"There are 22 conference games, and this is just one," Strommen said. "If we win, it would be a big confidence booster in that regard."
