Second chances for Saints with state berth
By Kristi Nixon
MASON CITY — It’s not often you get a second chance in baseball.
The St. Ansgar Saints kept getting them in a 2-1 Class 1A sub-state 2 upset win over top-ranked Mason City Newman on Tuesday, July 11 at Roosevelt Field in Mason City.
“They didn’t come away with that big hit early that kept us in the ball game,” coach Devin Schwiesow said. “We got that big squeeze play down, which was important for us. Carsen (Sparrow) missed a sign earlier and rarely do you get second chances. And he got a second chance and I’m so proud of him to get that one down. We just battled.”
The win sets up a state quarterfinal against Remsen St. Mary’s (29-2) at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, July 17 at Carroll’s Merchants Park.
Over and over again, starter Tate Mayer kept turning away the Knights, which had prime scoring opportunities.
“I just didn’t let it get to me, I knew it was early in the game still,” Mayer said. “I knew our bats were going to come around and once we got two runners on base and we had our four guy (Sparrow) up, I knew it was coming. And I knew we were going to get at least one (run) there. When we got the bunt down and they overthrew, it was like a momentum switch. We had all the momentum and I don’t know if they were going to get it back and they didn’t.”
Freshman right fielder Joe Clevenger overcame an early miscue in the field.
“I just flushed the first one, kept focusing on trying to get the next one, getting after it,” Clevenger said. “Just moving on. Remember like a goldfish, like coach says.”
Carsen Sparrow missed a bunt sign with Connor Mullenbach on third base and Jayce Schwiesow on second, but then got another opportunity and didn’t miss.
“Coach gave me the bunt call, I was just trying to put the ball on the ground to score the run,” Sparrow said. “It was a close ball game, so every run counted.
“Yeah, after I missed the first one, all I could do was flush it, go to the next play, and try my best.”
An updated version of this story will appear in the July 18 edition of the Enterprise Journal.
