Prescott baseball won a pair of thrilling games against Ellsworth, now sitting at an impressive 13-4 record and just one game off of Middle Border Conference pace-setter Altoona with an 8-2 league record.

“It’s big. Any win in this league is big, because you know what, all teams no matter what their records are have good pitching,” Prescott Coach Brad Matzek said. “If you can pitch well, you’re going to be in games, and we’ve just got to find ways to win. We’re doing that right now.”

First up was a May 5 home game, with hits being hard to come by. After three shutout innings from Ellsworth’s Evan Beissel and four from Prescott’s Zack Murphy, the Cardinals struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning with an RBI walk from Collin Kosmalski and a run-scoring double play off the bat of Max Monteith.

Ellsworth got one run back off of Murphy in the top of the fifth on a bases-loaded passed ball but could not capitalize further with the runners in scoring position. Murphy pitched four and two-third innings, and Jackson Matzek finished the job with two and a third innings to seal a 2-1 pitching duel.

Game two was an eventful one. A first inning Ellsworth error on contact to center field from pitcher Brody Temmers put Prescott up by a pair of runs in the top of the first, but the Panthers came back swinging. Senior Omar Coulson led off the bottom of the first with a walk, becoming a menace on the basepaths to take second base, take third on a wild pitch and score on a Gavin Klos sacrifice fly. Gavin Wittenberg tied the game in the second with a homer to left. Pitchers Temmers and Jack Stoltenberg kept the sheet clean in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but it was not for lack of trying for the Panthers. In the bottom of the fourth, Ellsworth’s standout freshman Bentley McHardy singled to left field, but a relay from Livegard to Matzek to catcher Griffin Westberg cut down the Ellsworth runner at the plate to survive the inning.

“When you get a play like that where they probably should have scored and they don’t, that’s a big momentum change. When Mason hit the cut-off guy, he did his job, doing what he’s taught to do. That was a great relay home with Jackson Matzek to get the out at home,” Matzek said.

The very next inning, Prescott faced a predicament, with Ellsworth loading the bases with just one out with a 3-0 count. Temmers worked the count back to 3-2, getting a groundball to the left side that was turned for a double play.

“Wasn’t feeling too hot. It was a little rough, but that was amazing to grab. I know I can trust my defense with that too, so I’m thrilled,” Temmers said.

Between those two moments, there was going to be no stopping Prescott in the sixth. The Cardinals posted six runs in the inning with contributions up and down the lineup to win 8-2. Eight different Cardinals combined for 12 hits on the evening.

“Great pitching, great defense, and I give Ellsworth credit because they kept in the game because of their defense. We’re hitting the ball and they’re making plays,” Matzek said. “Their shortstop [Gavin Klos], he’s one of the best shortstops in conference. He was all over the place, making plays to his left, making plays to his right. When you’ve got a shortstop like that making plays, it’s hard to score.”

Matzek said Ellsworth is going to win some conference games this season despite the 2-8 conference record, because they play smart and can field the ball.
“We’re trying to have good at-bats,” Matzek said. “A lot of the good at-bats we had tonight were getting gobbled up by the shortstop, so I don’t know, just try to keep the same approach for the whole game.”

Temmers said not much was dropping for the Cardinals, but they kept their heads in the game. As they pursue a conference title and beyond, they cannot afford mental blunders that cost them games they should have come away with.

“It’s huge. Late in the season we want to keep it going. We’ve been on a good run of winning games, so we want to keep that going,” Temmers said. “That will only help us in the playoffs and now.”