James Fogleman and Keaton Hunt combined for a one-hit shutout to start the team off for the week, fanning 10 batters through six innings to secure a dominant victory over O’Neill.

The bats were hot as well with the Cards scoring 10 runs off 9 hits with runs in all but one inning of the contest. And when the Seniors weren’t taking bases they were stealing them with an impressive 11 stolen bases on the outing.

Caden Stokes (SS/3B) turned in another great night including a double that scored two in the top of the second inning. Jack Molt (LF) grounded into a fielder’s choice in the top of the 3rd but made the most of it stealing second and third during the next at bat before taking home on a wild pitch.

Catcher, Trent Patzel hit a twoout single in the top of the 4th driving in two runs in the process. In the 6th, Luke Curry (3B/RF) belted a double down the left field line with bases loaded to score two more. Keaton Hunt also picked up two stolen bases and an RBI on the night.

BerryPepper Days - Creighton Albion Seniors 22 – Creighton/Plainview 1 The Seniors drew the home team for the annual BerryPepper Days Tournament on Friday, and they picked right up where they left off last week with a complete shellacking of the host team.

They probably didn’t win too many fans from the hometown, but they definitely earned some respect racking up 22 runs in a mere 4 innings and only yielding one run on four hits over the same span.

The home team struggled on the mound throughout the game with numerous players reaching after being walked or hit by pitches. Over the course of the game, 6 players were hit by pitches and another 11 players were walked. The Seniors made the most of these mistakes, scoring a whopping ten runs in the first inning off only 2 hits which set the tone for the rest of the game. Caden Stokes cracked a ground ball to left in the first to score two runners but otherwise it was smart at bats that gave the Cards the early lead.

Things eased up in the second and third before a dominant fourth inning in which the Cardinals took advantage of some errors and more walks to get runners aboard and a run of three straight singles from Stokes, Schmeits and Fogleman to bring them home and cement the victory.

On the defensive side, the Seniors split pitching duties between Stokes, Fogleman and Ben Reilly with each pitching around an inning and recording 11 strikeouts between them.

Albion Seniors 17 – Tri-County 0

The Cardinals were back at it in Creighton for Day 2 of the tournament on Saturday and they picked right up where they left off the day before as they blasted Tri-County in a 17-0 rout.

They were dominant on both sides of the field picking up 17 runs on 14 hits while securing the shutout and only yielding 2 hits on the defensive side with no errors.

Things started a bit slower for the Cards in this one with Patzel hitting a RBI single to give Albion a 1-0 lead. Fogleman kept Tri-County’s batters quiet with three-up, threedown to close the inning. Jack Molt knocked a ground ball to right field in the second to score two and help the Cards to a 4-0 lead. Fogleman gave up one hit to start the second but shut down the rest to maintain the lead.

The Cards really came alive in the third when Carter Molt drilled a line drive to center to start the scoring. The Seniors would go on a run of four straight scoring at-bats culminating in Jack Molt’s line drive triple to right field which scored two and brought the lead to 10-0. With runners on the corners, Patzel crushed a home run over the center field fence to push the lead to 13-0. Luke Curry finished off the scoring for the inning with an RBI double to left and like that the Cards turned a 4-0 lead into a 14-0 lead.

Tri-County would go three and out to end the inning and set up the Cards to put the final nails in the coffin. Parker Borer led off the fourth with a line drive double to center field and Jack Molt would drive him in a few short plays later. Fogleman, who had an impressive stand on the mound as the only pitcher for the Cards, would drive in the final two runs of the game on a line drive single to right field.

Albion Seniors 1 – Wagner, SD 5

The hot streak had to end sometime and unfortunately that ending came against the squad from Wagner, South Dakota, late Saturday.

Trent Patzel opened the game on the mound for Albion and although things were shaky in the first, the Cards held Wagner to one hit and no runs.

Albion would get two hits in the second including a Fogleman double but could not bring any runners home. Patzel had a strong second inning fanning three batters, but an RBI single gave Wagner a 1-0 lead. Albion managed a single to start the second before three straight stikeouts to close the inning.

Wagner got two on early in the third with one scoring on a passed ball and the other on a sacrifice fly to center a short time later to grow the lead to 3-0. Stokes had a smart at-bat in the bottom to walk on a full count, but the next two batters struck out. Patzel came to the plate and cracked a line drive to left field, scoring Stokes to put the Cards on the board 3-1.

An error by the Cards in the fourth scored another for Wagner to increase the lead to 4-1 but Albion couldn’t get anything going on the offensive side. Wagner picked up two more singles in the fifth, scoring one and shutting down the Cards to put it to 5-1 at the end of 5.

Wagner looked like they might score a few more in the sixth but Stokes took over on the mound and fanned the final two batters to keep things in reach. But Albion simply could not find an answer to Wagner’s pitching to get enough going to make the comeback.

“BerryPepper Days in Creighton is always a fun tournament and small-town celebration,” remarked Coach Troy Patzel. “In our two wings, we outscored our opponents 39-1. In our lone loss, we ran into a very good left-handed pitcher. He had a very good move to first base which limited our running game. Too many stikeouts,” doomed the Cards.

Albion will play in David City on Tuesday, at home against Twin River on Wednesday and back on the road at Wayne on Friday before having the weekend off.