MINNETONKA, Minn. --- Crown faced the North Central Rams in a set of non-conference matchups on Tuesday evening at a neutral site in Minnetonka. The Storm took both games as they swept the Rams with two shutouts 6-0 and 10-0.
The Storm won the first game easily as
Nicholas Schroedle picked up his second win of the season, and his second game with no earned runs on the year. Schroedle went seven innings, allowed only six hits and struck out seven. He received some help from outfielder
Derek Albers who robbed a home run and another spectacular grab in an incredible defensive game for the first-year player.
Seth Betts closed the game with three outs and one strikeout in a three up and three down seventh inning.
The Storm took an early 1-0 lead as right fielder
Levi Knott hit in then-shortstop Betts from second base, a lead they held through the rest of the contest. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the team added five insurance runs as the Storm took advantage of three Ram errors that allowed runs, along with a
Brooks Repking RBI triple, Crown's lone extra-base hit of the game.
In the second contest, the Storm competed with the Rams closely at first, with neither team scoring in the first four innings. The scoring started in the fifth, with Knott doubling to score
Matt Sanchez. Then,
Gideon Dunn doubled to score Knott to take a 2-0 lead by the end of the inning. In the next inning, the Storm blew the lead wide open, scoring five runs. After the Rams loaded the bases,
Kyle Schroedle walked in a run, scoring
Bailey Sarto. Then Repking stole home for another score. Sanchez added another RBI on a groundout, and Knott tripled to clear the bases again. After that, Dunn scored Knott once again on a single. In the seventh, the Storm added three more runs as
Alex Sugi hit an RBI single and Betts had two RBIs with a single to take the game 10-0.
Pitching the second game was senior
Kress Medina, who started at third base the first contest. He pitched a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts and only six hits allowed, his first win of the season. The Storm improves to 5-8 on the season, with games against Martin Luther Wednesday morning.
