DRS Baseball: Union Hill Bulldogs blow away Faribault Lakers 11-0

By Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA)

 On a breezy Sunday in Union Hill (why is it called Union Hill when it's all flat land), the Union Hill Bulldogs defeated the Faribault Lakers 11-0 in the DRS Baseball season opener for Faribault. 

With the wind blowing either straight in, or towards first base, it would seem like the cozy dimensions of Giesen Field would be neutralized. It looked like it was going to play that way as neither team were able to get on the board the first two innings. But the Bulldogs broke the deadlock in the third inning. After Joe Becker singled and Eric Berg doubled, a Conrad Masberg sacrifice fly scored the first run of the game. Two batters later Jack Giesen singled to drive in a second run. 

The Lakers seemed to have avoided further damage but a high infield fly by Thomas Lee got up in the wind and a diving attempt by Joe Grote to catch the ball in front of the mound bounded off his glove allowing a run to score from third. Giesen hustled all the way from first to score a second run on the play to make it a 4-0 game. 

The Lakers meanwhile could not get anything going at the plate against the combination of Joe Becker and Derek Masberg. For the day the Lakers were only able to collect two hits, singles by Grote and Austin Rendler. 

The game was put out of reach with a Bulldogs 7 run sixth inning. 11 Bulldog batters came to the plate with four batters reaching on walks, one via hit by pitch and three singles. 

Maui Wowi Smoothies of the Game:

1. Joe Becker- Union Hill. Becker threw four shutout innings and collected four hits.

2. Jack Giesen- Union Hill. Giesen went 3-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. 

3. Austin Rendler- Faribault. Rendler should've had two hits but a line drive to short was suspiciously ruled an error (to protect a no hitter in Townball?). 

Notes:

The Lakers tied Morristown 8-8 in their only tune up for the season last week in Morristown.

Next week the only action for the Lakers will be a Mother's Day game on Sunday at St. Patrick, a 2 pm start.

There's a new team in the area as the Lakeville Loonatics will be playing in Class A. They will be playing out of newly constructed Belzer Stadium in Lakeville. It's shaping up to be a beautiful facility. Could it be a draw for Lakeville players currently playing in the DRS?

On the other end of the spectrum the Chanhassen Red Birds will not be playing in the 2026 season. But have said via social media that they plan on having a team in 2027.

I'll will not have coverage of next week's game as next Sunday doubles as Mother's Day and my wife's Birthday. But will be back to cover the game on May 17 unless a certain hockey team in St. Paul has a home game that day. 

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