Baseball opens season with a split

While the team had high hopes for a sweep, the Glencoe-Silver Lake baseball squad
had to settle for a split of its opening two games at Vollmer Field last week.
While Opening Day went as well as it could have in a 10-0 blanking of visiting Sibley
East on Tuesday, April 2, the week capped in a disappointing 6-5 loss to Hutchinson
three days later.
GSL led the Tigers 5-0 heading into the sixth inning before the visitors scored two
runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to steal away the one-run victory and
drop the Panthers to 1-1 on the season.
After three innings of scoreless ball, GSL broke through with a four-run fourth
against Hutch.
After Chandler Glaeser drove home Bennett Lepel with a double, Ty Christensen
logged two RBI with a double that plated Glaeser and Andrew Wraspir before
Christensen himself came home on an RBI single off the bat of Spencer Lilienthal.
The Panthers notched one more run in the fifth inning as Glaeser batted in Gabe
Roepke with a single to give the hosts a five-run edge.
Matters quickly degraded, however, as Hutch scored a pair of error-saturated runs
in the sixth to cut its deficit to 5-2 into the seventh.
The Tigers bats roared in their final turn at the plate, knocking in four runs on four
hits to take their first – and lasting – advantage.
GSL went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh as the optimism of victory turned into
the spectre of defeat.
Panthers starting pitcher Brett Baumgarten gave up five hits and no walks over 6-
2/3 innings, with all five of the runs scored off him going as unearned.
Drew Hedtke took the loss in 1/3 inning of work.
It was a much happier outcome earlier in the week as GSL blanked Sibley East.
Glaeser started and earned a complete game victory in just five innings. He allowed
just one hit with four walks, while striking out seven Wolverines.
GSL got on the board with a four-run third, with another two-run double from
Christensen doing half the damage.
The big blast came in the six-run fourth, as Michael Waibel launched a three-run
homer to left-center field. GSL sent 12 batters to the plate in the frame.
The Panthers opened Wright County Conference West play as Litchfield visited
Vollmer Field on Tuesday, after the Chronicle went to press.