"We played a very good game against Litch," said coach Brad Skoglund. "We played well offensively and defensively, and we got some timely hitting."
Seniors Jon Lieser and Chris Rohe led the Bulldogs with two hits and three RBIs apiece. Rohe drove in Lieser in the first inning with a single to give Paynesville an early lead.
After the Dragons tied the score at one in the fourth, the Bulldogs scored three times in the fifth and sixth to put the game away. Lieser hit an RBI single and Rohe hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Lieser added a two-run single in the sixth.
Lieser also earned the pitching victory with a complete game effort, striking out eight. Skoglund called it Lieser's best performance of the year. "That was the hardest Jon has thrown all year," he said.
With a young team, thrown into the fire by the late start and the full schedule of games, Skoglund has seen improvement in recent weeks. At the start of the year, the team was playing scared, he said, but now seemed to be more relaxed while playing. That approach has especially helped the team's hitting, which got off to a slow start.
The Bulldogs played at BBE yesterday. They will host LPGE tomorrow in their last conference game and start subsection play next week.
| Paynesville-- | 100 | 033 | 0 | - 7 | 11 | 2 |
| Litchfield-- | 000 | 110 | 0 | - 2 | 5 | 3 |
Paynesville - Batting: Jon Lieser 2-3 R-2 RBI-3; Chris Rohe 2-4 HR RBI-3; T.J. Schultz 2-3 R-2; Nick Fuchs 2-4; Jeremy Fuchs 1-4 RBI; Josh Kampsen 1-3 R; Max Meagher 1-4 R; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Lieser (W) (7-5-2-2-3-8).
Paynesville - Batting: Jon Lieser 1-3; Chris Rohe 0-4; Jeremy Fuchs 1-2; Ryan Schneider 1-4; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Lieser (W) (5-1-0-0-0-6).
Albany 10
Paynesville 2
Paynesville took an early 2-0 lead with two first-inning runs, but walks and errors helped Albany to rally to victory on Thursday night under the lights in Paynesville.
The Bulldogs outhit the Huskies 7-6 but walks and errors led to unearned runs that propelled the Huskies to victory.
In the first inning, Ryan Schneider doubled and scored on Jon Lieser's double. Lieser then scored on Chris Rohe's single.
| Albany-- | 020 | 220 | 3 | - 10 | 6 | 1 |
| Paynesville-- | 200 | 000 | 0 | - 2 | 7 | 3 |
Albany - Batting: Josh Pelton 1-3 2B R RBI-2; Adam Kalthoff 1-3 RBI-3 R-2; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Troy Wunderlich (W) (7--9-2-2-0-7).
Paynesville - Batting: Jon Lieser 2-3 2B R RBI; Chris Rohe 2-3 RBI; Nick Fuchs 1-3; Ryan Schneider 1-4 2B R; Max Meagher 1-1; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Jeremy Fuchs (L) (7-6-10-3-7-6).
Cathedral 8
Paynesville 3
Again, the Bulldogs' offense started early, but Cathedral put together two four-run rallies to beat the Bulldogs 8-3 on Tuesday in St. Cloud.
The Crusaders scored four runs in the second and four more in the third. In both innings, the Bulldogs committed a two-out error to prolong the inning. Four of Cathedral's eight runs were unearned.
For the Bulldogs, Chris Rohe knocked home Jeremy Fuchs in the first inning to give Paynesville an early lead. Fuchs scored again on a passed ball in the third. Max Meagher scored the Bulldogs final run in the fourth on Nick Fuchs' double.
Wes Lieser pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs, allowing four earned runs in seven innings.
| Paynesville-- | 101 | 100 | 0 | - 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Cathedral-- | 044 | 000 | x | - 8 | 9 | 1 |
Paynesville - Batting: Max Meagher 1-3 R; Chris Rohe 1-3 RBI; Nick Fuchs 1-3 RBI; Pat Rohe 1-2; Jon Lieser 1-1 BB-2; Scott Buermann 1-1; Jeremy Fuchs 0-2 R-2; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Wes Lieser (L) (7-8-8-4-3-2).
Cathedral - Batting: Charlie Hoffman 2-3 R-2 RBI-2; Brian Mathieson 1-2 R-2 SB-2 RBI; Dingmann 1-3 R SB-2.
Sauk Centre 9
Paynesville 8
The Bulldogs' rally from a five-run deficit was squandered in extra innings, as Sauk Centre scored the winning run on an error in the eighth inning.
Sauk Centre jumped to a 5-0 lead after two innings, but the Bulldogs tied the score at five with two runs in the third and three in the fifth. T.J. Schultz reached by error and scored the Bulldogs' first run and Wes Lieser the second In the fifth, Chris Rohe had a three-run homer in the fifth to tie the score.
The Streeters took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the fifth, but the Bulldogs tied the score again at six on Schultz' homer in the top of the sixth.
The Bulldogs took an 8-6 lead in the top of the seventh. Jon Lieser hit a homer, and Nick Stalboerger singled and scored on Max Meagher's hit.
The Streeters scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score at eight, and won with a run in the eighth.
| Paynesville-- | 002 | 031 | 20 | - 8 | 10 | 2 |
| Sauk centere-- | 320 | 010 | 21 | - 9 | 9 | 2 |
Paynesville - Batting: Chris Rohe 1-3 HR RBI-4; T.J. Schultz 1-4 HR R-2; Wes Lieser 2-5 R-2; Jeremy Fuchs 2-5 R; Max Meagher 2-4 RBI; Jon Lieser 1-3 HR; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Jon Lieser (4-7-5-2-0-6); Chris Rohe (L) (3-1-4-4-1-5); Jeremy Fuchs (0.1-1-0-0-1-0).
Sauk Centre - Batting: Brandon Wolf 3-5 RBI-4; Matt Middendorf 2-4RBI; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Eric Moritz (5-6-5-2-1-9); Adam Moritz (2.1-4-3-3-0-2); Middendorf (W) (0.2-0-0-0-1-2).