After falling to the New Richmond Tigers by a score of 2-1 in the home opener at Fire Hall Field in Prescott on Saturday, April 9, the Cardinals dropped to 2-1 overall through the first three games of the 2022 season.

The two aforementioned wins came against Dover-Eyota and St. Paul Academy on Saturday, April 2, at the Lake City Invite. In those games, Prescott scored a total of 18 runs and looked explosive offensively. The home opener against New Richmond was completely different – it was a day of missed opportunities.

While the bats struggled, the slew of pitchers that Prescott head coach Jeff Ryan sent to the mound didn’t have many issues at all. Senior Ben Rohl started the home opener by pitching three scoreless innings, which included getting out of a jam in the top of the third to keep the game all square. Coach Ryan spoke about Rohl’s three innings of work on the mound.

“Ben threw the ball over the plate,” Ryan said. “If I was to pick (a number one starter), I suppose it would be Ben (Rohl). We’ve got Philip Seifert, he’s just a strike-thrower. He did that last year too. He pounds the strike zone and that’s what makes him so effective.”

While Rohl was dealing, the Prescott bats weren’t nearly as effective. In the bottom of the third inning, the Cardinals left two men stranded on base. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Prescott scored its lone run when New Richmond walked senior outfielder Justin Syverson with the bases loaded.

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Prescott senior Ben Rohl delivers a strike to home plate during his three-inning start against New Richmond on Saturday, April 9. In his three innings of work, Rohl allowed no earned runs. Photo by Reagan Hoverman CARDINALS

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Despite scoring to take a 1-0 lead, the Cardinals left three more men stranded on base in that fourth inning. In the top of the fifth inning, New Richmond scored its two runs against junior Brady Block, who made a relief appearance.

After a walk and a sacrifice bunt to move New Richmond’s runner to second, Tigers’ junior Drew Effrtz hit an RBI screamer down the third base line to Ben Rohl, who couldn’t quite handle it off the hop and scored the runner to tie the game 1-1. After a stolen base, New Richmond tacked on an RBI single to center field to take a 2-1 lead, a score that held for the remainder of the game.

Prescott had more than its fair share of scoring opportunities throughout the game. Twice the Cardinals had the bases loaded and managed to produce only one run – the aforementioned walk in the bottom of the fourth inning. For coach Ryan, it was simply a game of missed opportunities.

“We had opportunities, our pitchers did OK, in a close game like this, I would argue whoever made the least mistakes, that’s usually who ends up winning,” Ryan said at Fire Hall Field. “For the first time (at home) they played pretty well. We left a lot of guys on base. We probably left eight, nine or ten guys on base in the last three innings.”

Coach Ryan spoke about some of the struggles at the plate, a lot of which had been done by some of Prescott’s best hitters. For Ryan, he thinks it’s only a matter of time before they bust out of their slump and start hitting at a high level.

“We’re struggling at the plate,” Ryan said. “We’ve got some guys who are scuffling at the plate and that’s going to happen. The one tough thing is that the season goes so fast. There is no time to have a slump. We’re confident that the top of our order – Justin Syverson, Mason Lewis and Philip Seifert – I don’t know if they have a hit this year. They’re going to hit.”

While the top of the order has yet to get going, the pitching is already performing well. Two earned runs allowed is typically enough to win a high school baseball game. After the contest, coach Ryan spoke about what he’s seen from his staff this year.

“Early in the year we want to give many guys opportunities to throw, especially in these non-conference games,” Ryan said. “Ben (Rohl) threw the ball over the plate, Phil (Seifert) did a nice job, and Wesley (Dobbs) found a way to battle. Sometimes in high school baseball, if you get guys to throw the ball over the plate – three or four of those guys – that’s tough to adjust to.”

Ryan stated that the staff has seven or eight guys that they expect to get innings from this season. As a coaching staff, Prescott will try to keep arms fresh and not leave guys on the mound – for the most part – any longer than they feel is necessary.

Prescott will get its first Middle Border Conference matchup of the season on Tuesday, April 12, when the Cardinals host the Ellsworth Panthers at Fire Hall Field. That game is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m., weather permitting.

Prescott junior Dryden Seeley hits a single to shallow left field in the bottom of the sixth inning against New Richmond. Photo by Reagan Hoverman