SPRING VALLEY — The Guthrie boys, Garrett and Blaine, each crushed home runs while Aaron Froelich tossed seven shutout innings to lift Spring Valley to a 5-0 win over the New Richmond Millers.

The Hawks got into some trouble in the top of the first with runners on first and second and just one out, but a hard grounder allowed Casey Ryan to step on third and toss it across the diamond for a double play. Still with no score in the third, Derek Myer took a grounder at shortstop, making a Jeter-esque jump throw to get the runner and end the top half of the inning.

“Our defense definitely was a high point for us,” Garrett said. “We didn’t let much drop, didn’t let much get behind us.”

Spring Valley got the scoring going in the bottom of the inning, with Scott Sayles finding the barrel, crushing a ground-rule double to score Garrett and take a 1-0 lead.

Innings later, Garrett came to the plate and bludgeoned the ball off the football press box for a home run and a 2-0 lead.

“I was kind of in shock,” Garrett said. “I’ve had hits like that, but never any that managed to get out.”

Blaine would follow suit in the sixth, scorching a two-run homer to left for a 4-0. He would also drive in the game’s final run in the seventh, singling up the gut.

“It was really cool,” Blaine said. “Our grandma was in town. She’s never around much because she lives out east. It was super cool to go yard and have her see it.”

It was a great day on the mound for the Hawks, getting seven shutout innings from Froelich and the final two from Ryan.

“It was stellar,” Blaine said of Froelich. “He just had a kid two weeks ago. Kid was at the ballpark, family was at the ballpark, he was able just to pick right back up where he left off.”

For Froelich, the focus was simply on going out and giving the team its best chance of winning.

“Business as usual. Try to eat up a bunch of innings and just keep runners off the base paths,” Froelich said. “I’ve found some success against New Richmond in the past, and just kind of continuing that tonight.”

He said strong defense feeds into his confidence on the mound. When the defense is making plays, Froelich is comfortable throwing strikes and doing his job.

“I rely heavily on my defense,” Froelich said. “I’m not always a big strikeout pitcher. I like a lot of ground balls and just keeping my infield active.”

Spring Valley is competing for a top spot in the St. Croix Valley league at 6-1. Froelich is excited to get some opportunities to pitch against contending teams in massive games during the final month of the year.

“As long as we keep hitting the ball, I think that our pitching staff is going to do what we do, and we’ll be able to keep winning games,” Froelich said. “There’s a couple tough teams in our conference here, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing them soon.”

Despite the bats not being in peak form, Spring Valley found a way to win. Blaine believes when pitching, defense and the bats are clicking, this team can make a special run once again.

“We find ways to win even on an off night, and I think that’s separating us,” Blaine said. “The bats took a little bit of a lull tonight, but it still wasn’t anything to slouch about.”

“Our fielding has been a rock for us,” Blaine said. “When you have guys that throw strikes, you have people fielding, it’s easy to put up zeroes.”