The Prescott Cardinals split a double header on Thursday against the St. Croix Central Panthers, winning 11-1 in game one and losing 4-3 in game two, and then played Mondovi on Saturday at home in Prescott.

Game one of the double header was a stat booster for the bats as well as starting pitcher Cullen Huppert, who threw a five-inning, nine-strikeout gem that ended in a mercy rule victory. He gave up just one run on one hit and a walk over 70 total pitches.

Nolan Thomley led off for the Cardinals, reaching base three times with two singles, three runs, a walk and a steal. Barrett Temmers batted third and led the team in offense, going 3-4 with a double, two singles, two runs and three RBI. Cole Platson rounded out the top performers on offense, going 3-3 with a double, two singles, a run, an RBI and a steal.

Game two was a frustrating loss in a game that Prescott led the majority of the way. The Cards got on the board early, hitting four straight singles with no outs in the top of the first inning. A fly out and two consecutive ground outs ended the scoring with the Cardinals up 2.

The Panthers got on the board with a walk and a double in the bottom of the frame to make it 2-1, but they didn’t tie it up until the fifth inning at 2-all.

Prescott would score on an error, a walk, a single and a sacrifice to make it 3-2 with just three outs to go. Unfortunately, St. Croix Central would tie it up in the bottom of the inning, sending it into extras where some timely hitting by the Panthers would walk it off for them as the Middle Border rivals split the series with a game apiece.

Coming up next for the Cardinals is a three-game week. First up, they play a split series with the Altoona Railroaders, with a game on the road on Tuesday and a game at home on Thursday, and they finish up their week by hosting the River Falls Wildcats on Friday night. All games are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

Ellsworth

The Ellsworth Panthers played three games last week, splitting the conference series against the  Amery Warriors by losing at home 4-1 on Tuesday but beating them on the road 2-1 on Thursday, and then routing Unity 14-3.

The Panthers struggled with errors and getting the bats going on Tuesday, only putting up five hits and one run in the game. Starting pitcher Jack Stoltenburg took the loss but tossed a gem, throwing a complete game with eight strikeouts and two earned runs allowed on four hits and no walks.

Ellsworth continued to struggle with errors in game two, but pitching carried the day for them once again. Landan Lampman was untouchable on Thursday with zero earned runs, just two hits and no walks while striking out eight Warriors in the process. He also had a good day at the plate, going 2-4 batting in the leadoff position for the Panthers.

The offense for the Panthers scuffled a bit outside of Lampman, but Nolan Kummer’s solo shot in the fourth inning is what put them on the board 1-0 and mitigated the plated run by Amery in the bottom of that frame, which tied it at 1-all. That score would hold, and the game would go into overtime.

With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Riley Maher took the first pitch he saw and sent a line drive to right field for a single. He quickly stole second to get into scoring position just two pitches later and advanced to thirdnon a passed ball by the catcher. Then, with two outs and one on, Lampman stepped in and got a pitch to hit on the first offering, sending a hard ground ball gapper past the Warriors’ first baseman and into right field, scoring Maher and taking a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the inning.

Lampman came back to the mound one last time and finished the Warriors off by setting them down in order to take the win. He threw an efficient 96 pitches in the overtime win.

Next up for the Panthers is another three-game slate starting on Tuesday when they travel to Baldwin to play the Blackhawks. They then return home to host Balwin-Woodville on Thursday and finish up at home on Friday when the Elk Mound Mounders come to town. First pitch for all three games is at 5 p.m.

Spring Valley

The Spring Valley Cardinals lost to the Elk Mound Mounders 11-4 on Thursday in Spring Valley.

The Cardinals defense couldn’t keep up with Elk Mound on Thursday as they committed eight errors in the 11-4 route.

Elk Mound got on the board early, putting up three runs in the top of the first on a bases-clearing double and adding two more in the top of the second after Spring Valley’s error. The offense was able to keep it close, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and another one in the bottom of the third to make it a 5-3 ballgame.

The scoring dried up for both teams until the final two innings when Elk Mound put up a combined six runs. The Cardinals scored once more before the game ended, but the final score tells the story with the Mounders winning by seven.

The top of the lineup did the heavy lifting for Spring Valley in this one with Kaden Robelia, Trevor Forster and Caleb Bartko scoring all their runs. Bartko paced the team in hits, going 3-4 with a steal batting out of the 3-hole, and Diego Schmit went 2-4 with an RBI double while batting cleanup.

Will Biggs and Robelia split the pitching duties with Biggs lasting 3.2 innings with three earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts. Robelia pitched the final 3.1 giving up two runs on six hits with one walk and one strikeout. Altogether, the Mounders only earned five of their 11 runs with the other six coming as the result of errors.

Spring Valley will look to play cleaner ball this week with a full slate of road games. First up are the Boyceville Bulldogs on Thursday, Baldwin-Woodville on Friday and Elmwood-Plum City on Monday. All games begin at 5 p.m.

Elmwood-Plum City

The Elmwood-Plum City Wolves were defeated by the Boyceville Bulldogs on Thursday in Elmwood by a score of 2-1. It was a pitchers’ dual on Thursday with each team scoring just a single run after six innings of play, but the Wolves’ seven walks over seven innings would prove to be their undoing.

After starting the game with two scoreless innings, the Bulldogs got on the board first, scoring a run off EPC’s starting pitcher Brewer Link. The Wolves came back and tied it in the bottom of the frame off a sacrifice fly by Brett Lifto.

Link got lifted for Hudson Hewitt in the fifth inning, and he pitched a clean game until the top of the seventh inning when the walks came back to haunt him, allowing one run to cross making it 2-1 going into the final half inning of play. The Wolves were unable to string together a couple hits, and they fell to the Bulldogs by one run.

It was a game in which EPC outhit their opponent 3-1. However, they struck out 12 times and only drew three walks compared to nine K’s and a whopping seven walks by Boyceville.

Link’s final line was four innings with one earned run off three walks and one hit, striking out five and lowering his season ERA to 1.75 in the process. Link and Hewitt both threw about 60 pitches in this one, with Hewitt’s final line being three innings with a single earned run off of two hits and five walks. He struck out four, and his ERA still sits at a very impressive 2.33 on the season.

It was tough sledding for the offense as well as they put on just six base runners over seven innings of play. Robbie Duffy hit a double, Lifto recorded the lone RBI and Dylan Zeilinger recorded a steal.

Looking ahead, the Wolves will play Elk Mound on Thursday on the road at 5 p.m. and then they will travel to Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran on Saturday to play at 4:30 p.m. Their final game of the week will come on Monday when they host Spring Valley at 5 p.m.

River Falls

The River Falls Wildcats won their only game this week when they hosted the Eau Claire Memorial Old Abes on Thursday at First National Bank of River Falls Field by a score of 4-1.

With a crooked number that big, it was actually more of a pitchers’ dual than it would seem.

The Old Abes got on the board first when starting Wildcat pitcher Jack Manninen gave up a solo home run to the second batter he faced, but that is all he would allow, pitching a complete game and throwing 63 of his 96 pitches for strikes.

The River Falls offense wasn’t able to do much against the Eau Claire Memorial pitching staff over the first three innings, but they chased their starter from the game in the fourth after putting up four earned runs, with Ben Johnson, Chase McQuade, Cayden and Cody Olson all coming across. That’s all they would get, though, and the game would end with a 4-1 victory for the home team.

Manninen spun a gem in this win, going the distance and scattering four hits, two walks and a single earned run while striking out seven over seven innings. Olson led the way offensively, going 1-2 with a double, a run and two RBI.

Coming up this week in Wildcats baseball is a much busier slate of games. First off, they will play the New Richmond Tigers twice, once at home on Tuesday and then on the road on Thursday; both games are at 4:30. Finally, they will finish up their week with an away game in Prescott on Friday night when they play the Cardinals at 5 p.m.