Return to Sports Archives

The Dogs beat Sauk Centre 3-1 at home and beat LPGE 1-0 in nine innings on the road to finish 6-4 in the conference, tied with St. Cloud Cathedral. Melrose (9-1) won the conference title.

Paynesville has won eight of their last nine games to finish the regular season. After losing three straight conference games to fall to 1-3 in the conference and 3-4 overall, the Bulldogs put together a five-game win streak and then a three-game win streak, suffering only another loss to Melrose.

The Bulldogs are now 11-5 overall and have earned the top seed in Subsection 20. As the #1 seed, the Dogs get a first-round bye. They will play their first subsection game against the winner between #4 Annandale and #5 Maple Lake on Tuesday, May 27, at 4:30 p.m. at Maple Lake.

Senior Scott Thomes had one of the Bulldogs' two hits against Sauk Centre on Thursday. Thomes scored two runs as the Dogs won 3-1.

Coach Brad Skoglund said the team deserved the top seed in the subsection after their successful season in the tough WCC North, which featured five state-rated teams. "We played excellent ball this year," he said. "We played better than I expected."

"I wish we could keep playing," he added. "We've got too many days off now. I'm concerned. We're going to have to practice very well."

The Bulldogs have 11 days off between their last regular season game last Thursday and their first subsection game next week.

Paynesville 3, Sauk Centre 1
The Bulldogs managed only three hits but scored three unearned runs to beat Sauk Centre on Thursday.

Senior Josh Kampsen limited the Mainstreeters to only one run while pitching a complete game victory.

Sauk Centre scored in the first inning on a pair of doubles to take the early lead. The Bulldogs finally scored in the third inning, when ninth grader Jon Hemingson walked, senior Scott Thomes singled, and junior Adam Hemmesch sacrificed them to second and third. Hemingson scored on a fielding error, and Thomes scored on a throwing error during a double steal attempt.

The Bulldogs scored another run in the bottom of the fifth. Thomes reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on a balk, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hemmesch.

The Bulldogs had only two hits but were aided by four errors by Sauk Centre. "We capitalized on their mistakes," said Skoglund.

Sauk Centre--	100	000	0	- 1	6	4
Paynesville--	002	010	x	- 3	2	1

Sauk Centre - Batting: Jesse Ellens 2-2 2B RBI; Zach Winter 1-3 2B R; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Zach Wachbrowicz (L) (6-2-3-0-1-3).

Paynesville - Batting: Scott Thomes 1-2 R-2; Josh Kampsen 1-3; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Kampsen (W) (7-6-1-1-2-2).

Paynesville 1, LPGE 0
Junior Chad Stang doubled home the game's only run in the top of the ninth inning, and junior Adam Kampsen pitched a complete-game shutout as the Bulldogs beat Long Prairie-Grey Eagle in extra innings on Tuesday, May 13.

Kampsen extended his shutout string to 15 innings by keeping the Thunder from scoring throughout the nine-inning game. He has allowed only one unearned run in his past 23 innings pitched.

But LPGE did have some chances to score, getting five hits and walking seven times. LPGE stranded two runners in the first, second, sixth, and ninth innings and left the bases full in the fifth.

"For a low-scoring game, there were a lot of baserunners," said Skoglund. "Both teams had chances to score, but both teams made the plays and the pitches when they had to."

In the ninth, Hemmesch walked and scored on Stang's double over the head of the centerfielder.

Paynesville--	000	000	001	- 1	4	1
LPGE--	000	000	000	- 0	5	1

Paynesville - Batting: Chad Stang 1-4 2B RBI; Adam Hemmesch 1-3 R; Mike Mueller 1-3; Adam Kampsen 1-5 2B; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Adam Kampsen (W) (9-5-0-0-7-8).

Paynesville 14, Benson 1
The Bulldogs sent 12 batters to the plate and scored nine runs in the third inning and beat Benson 14-1 in five innings in a nonconference road game on Monday, May 12.

Josh Kampsen had two hits in the Bulldogs' big inning, including a grand slam homerun, his second of the year. He has hit five homeruns for the Bulldogs so far this spring.

The Bulldogs had five consecutive hits in the inning: an RBI single from Chad Stang, an RBI double by Scott Thomes, a two-run double by Jon Hemingson, an RBI single by Adam Hemmesch, and a single by senior Russ Leyendecker.

Leyendecker earned the pitching win for the Bulldogs, allowing only two hits. The Dogs were 5-1 in nonconference games this year.

Paynesville--	209	12x	x	- 14	11	1
Benson--	001	00x	x	- 1	2	5

Paynesville - Batting: Josh Kampsen 3-4 2B HR RBI-5 R-3; Scott Thomes 2-2 2B R RBI; Adam Hemmesch 1-2 R RBI; Justin Butkofski 1-2 R RBI; Jon Hemingson 1-3 2B R RBI-2; Adam Kampsen 1-3 2B R-3 RBI; Chad Stang 1-4 R-2 RBI; Russ Leyendecker 1-4 R-2 Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Leyendecker (W) (4.1-2-1-0-5-2); Josh Krupke (0.2-0-0-0-0-0).