Braves tumble at Le Mars, 11-6

LE MARS - Tanner Dowling of Le Mars smacked a grand slam home run in the third inning to lead the host Bulldogs to an 11-6 upset win over #4 Cherokee in Lakes Conference baseball action here last week.

Matt Koch of Cherokee takes a lead off second base while Sheldon shortstop Taylor Zeutenhorst follows the pitch during the Braves big win over the Orabs in Cherokee Monday. Photo by Paul Struck [Click to enlarge]

Matt Koch absorbed his first loss of the season on the mound for the Braves, allowing five earned runs on six hits and two walks, with a whopping 14 strikeouts in six innings of work.

Winning pitcher Brayton Ringsdorf of Le Mars gave up five earned runs on six hits and six walks, with 10 Ks in seven innings of work.

Matt Pitts led the Braves on offense with a 2-3 night including a double and two RBI, while Cody Ege was 2-4 with one RBI, Jakob HUmmel 1-3 with an RBI, and Phillip Schulenburg 1-4 with an RBI.

Cherokee assistant coach Steve Sonka in the foreground flashes signs to catcher Tyler Jones as the Braves dugout, including head coach Scott Koch, far right, stays focused on the action on the field during Monday night's Lakes Conference Championship-clinching victory over Sheldon here. Photo by Paul Struck [Click to enlarge]

The Braves scored two runs in the first, two in the second, and two more in the seventh, but could not overcome the Bulldogs' five-run third, and three-run sixth innings.

"We did not play well tonight," said Cherokee coach Scott Koch. "It has not happened very often, but our defense let us down tonight."

The Braves committed 10 errors in the game, most of them leading to Le Mars runs and forcing Matt Koch to continue pitching out of jams due to those miscues.

Cherokee, 20-3 and Lakes Conference Champions for the fourth season in a row, plays South O'Brien in Class 2A District opening action in Cherokee Saturday night at 7 p.m. Hinton plays Lawton-Bronson at 5 p.m. here Saturday night, with the two winners playing in Cherokee at 7 p.m. Tuesday.