Staff photo by Ali Selvey Madelia's Tate Becker celebrates after hitting a walk-off hit against Wabasso in a nonconference baseball game Saturday at ISG Field in Mankato.
MANKATO — A walk-off hit over Tate Becker's center fielder gave Madelia a 3-2 victory over Wabasso in a nonconference baseball game Saturday at ISG Field.
“I knew he was going to throw a fastball.” Becker said. “I just want to jump in early and hit something on the play.”
Becker said he has hit walk-offs before, but this one was more shocking.
“At that moment, just having my teammates and friends around me and everyone cheering me on made me feel so good.” He said.
Zach Jacobs pitched seven innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out nine, giving Madelia the victory.
“Zach is a great kid.” Madelia head coach Jimmy Keefer said. “He's a very hard worker, one of our hardest-working kids, a very reliable kid. He's going to go out there, and even though he might not be the strongest pitcher, , he's going to go out there and fill it up with strikes and always give us a chance. I was very proud of his effort today.”
At the bat for Madelia, Kyle Pietsch was 2-for-3 with a triple and one RBI, and Tony Zaleski was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two RBIs. Becker had a double and an RBI.
Joe Libre replaced Wabasso, allowing seven hits, nine strikeouts, and one earned run in the loss. At the plate for the Rabbitohs, Libre had a triple and an RBI, and Jaden Remiger had an RBI.
Wabasso opened the scoring in the first inning when Ashton Roerich reached home on an error. The team played clean defense throughout, but this was the only mistake Madelia made.
“[Wabasso] They played a really high-quality game and had really good pitchers.” Kiefer said. “That was a very defensive game, doing the little things right, playing clean defense and bunting. We hung in there and whoever made the last play got the game.” It will be.”
Madelia responded in the first inning with a score of its own on an error by Wabasso, allowing Zaleski to reach home. However, unlike Madelia, Wabasso continued to have errors for the rest of the match, finishing with four errors.
In the fourth inning, Wabasso scored again, with Remiger hitting a single and then scoring on Libre's triple. Madelia came home with a single by Noel Davila in the bottom of the inning and a triple by Pietsch.
After two more scoreless innings, Madelia struck out in the seventh inning. Wabasso had another error, allowing Eric Anderson and Zaleski to reach base on an infield error. Becker took advantage of this and emerged victorious, ending with a celebration with his teammates.
After the victory over the Rabbits, Madelia played another game against Windham Area at ISG Field, but they were unable to bring home another victory as Windham Area won 3-2.
Becker suffered the loss, giving up two hits and three runs (no earned runs) in seven innings, with 11 strikeouts. Anderson led the team's offense, recording one hit and two RBIs. Davila and Pietsch each had one RBI and a hit in the game.
Madelia plays at New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva on Monday. Wabasso hosts Minnesota Valley Lutheran on Monday.
