The Zimny Insurance American Legion Post 87 baseball team is off to a 4-1-1 start to the summer season heading into its doubleheader with Detroit Lakes on Tuesday night after Alexandria won its home tournament this past weekend.
Post 87 beat Champlin Park 8-3 in the championship. Alexandria did not lose throughout the weekend as it beat Thief River Falls 11-3 and White Bear Lake 8-0 around a 2-2 tie with Elk River.
Caleb Runge and Devan Swerman both homered in the championship against Champlin Park, and Elijah Holthaus tripled. Runge was all over the bases with that home run, two walks and three runs scored. Brock Lerfald added two walks and two hits as well.
JD Hennen got the pitching win by going five innings and striking out eight. He scattered four hits in allowing two runs before Parker Jendro pitched the final two innings and allowed one run on three hits. He struck out one.
Will Suchy dominated on the mound in an 8-0 win over White Bear Lake. Suchy allowed just two hits and two walks around 11 strikeouts in the five-inning shutout. Devin Cimbura homered and drove in three runs, while Holthaus tripled and Reed Reisdorf, Runge, Nate Hammerback and Dayton Downing all doubled. Runge had three hits and two RBIs.
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The solid pitching continued against Elk River in the 2-2 tie as Holthaus and Jendro combined to strike out six and allow just three hits. Neither of the runs they allowed were earned as Holthaus went five frames, striking out five and walking five, before Jendro allowed two hits and an unearned run over the final two innings.
Downing drove in both of Alexandria’s runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie it. He had a pinch-hit double with two outs that drove in Swerman and Connor Lerfald.
Swerman struck out nine and allowed one earned run on one hit and four walks in six innings against Thief River Falls. Hennen and Cimbura provided a bulk of the offense as the two combined for five hits, five runs scored and four RBIs. Both doubled as part of their multi-hit games, while Swerman and Downing had two hits apiece as well.
Alexandria will try to carry the momentum over into its doubleheader with Detroit Lakes on Tuesday night. First pitch of game one is set for 5 p.m. at Knute Nelson Memorial Ballpark.
