“I thought we played really well,” Sleepy Eye head coach Aaron Nesvold said. “We bounced back from a not-very-good game on Tuesday [a 15-2 loss to Springfield], but Gavin [Strong] threw well, Damien [Sanchez] came in with the save, we played good defense behind them and we got some hits. If we can do that, good things will happen.”

Nesvold said being able to score runs with two outs is a big momentum-changer in baseball.

“It’s one of those things where if you get two outs and you can score a couple runs, it kind of takes the wind out of the sails,” he said. “They go 1-2-3, momentum swings back to their favor. So to be able to push some runs across that way, I’m proud of the way the guys battled at the plate today.”

Wabasso head coach Chad Olson, for his part, said Wabasso needs to find ways to get out of those innings.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Wabasso’s Caden Frericks (15) makes a throw over to first base during a Tomahawk Division baseball game against Sleepy Eye Thursday at Sleepy Eye Ballpark.

“It just felt like it was after a really stupid error or pitching or something,” he said. “We have to do better than that. Pitching, don’t relax too much when you have two outs and nobody on base. It felt like, two outs, nobody on, and then all of a sudden you were watching guys run around the bases. Definitely things that we can work on.”

Strong earned the win for Sleepy Eye, striking out three while allowing three runs on two hits in 4 1/3 innings. Sanchez earned the save, striking out three with one hit allowed in 2 2/3 innings. At the plate for Sleepy Eye, Jacob Fulmer and Carson Uecker both had two hits with a double and an RBI, while Karter Haala was 2 for 3. Cole Eckstein added a hit and an RBI, while Cody Schultz had a triple.

Zach Skoblik took the loss for Wabasso, striking out one and allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits. At the plate, Jaxon Wagner had a double and two RBIs, while Jayden Remiger had a double and an RBI.

Sleepy Eye got on the board early in the first inning, with a triple from Schultz with two outs starting a rally where Uecker and Kaden Klein each put the ball into play, scoring Schultz and Uecker, respectively. Sleepy Eye did it again in the second inning, with a single by Haala starting the inning, then a double by Fulmer driving him home. After two outs, Eckstein was able to score on a throwing error as Wabasso attempted to throw out Schultz, who was stealing second, but the ball ended up in center field, allowing Eckstein to take home standing.

Olson said that allowing those early runs make it hard of the offense to try to come back.

“Our pitcher struggled early, but then he settled in and pitched a really good rest of the game,” Olson said. “And then our bats came alive a little bit. We found some runs there a little later, but just not enough to make it close enough to still be playing or pull that one out. It’s tough when you go down 4-0 after the second inning.”

Wabasso allowed one more run in the fourth inning, as Eckstein hit a two-out single to score Fulmer and increase the lead to 5-0.

Despite that, Wabasso was able to score some runs in the fifth inning, with Kaysen Harms drawing a leadoff walk, then Remiger doubling to score him. Caden Frericks drew another walk, then a double from Wagner scored both Remiger and Frericks to cut the lead to 5-3.

However, Wabasso was unable to continue the run, as Sanchez and the Sleepy Eye defense shut things down for the final two innings, not allowing another runner on base.

Sleepy Eye (7-4, 5-4) travels to play Heritage Christian on Friday. Wabasso (1-10, 0-9) hosts Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Monday.