Aitkin Steam Amateur Baseball

      The Aitkin Steam lost a marathon at Pierz Sunday losing in 12 innings 8-7. The Bulldogs took a 5-0 lead into the fourth when the Steam finally got their offense going. Zach Ehnstrom opened the inning with walk, then Jake McGuire singled and Joey Simonson walked to load the bases. Carson Kullhem walked to score one run and Dan Krier singled for another. John McGuire rapped a single to score two runs and it was a one-run game. Aitkin tied it at 5-5 in the fifth on a solo homerun by Zach Ehnstrom. That score stood until the bottom of the 8th when the Bulldogs took a 6-5 lead. Aitkin tied it in the top of the 9th as John McGuire walked, Zach Ehnstrom singled and Jake McGuire brought the run home with a sacrifice fly. The game went to the 12th inning when the Steam took a 7-6 lead. Kullhem walked and Thor Dunham singled. Later on Kullhem scored on a passed ball to give the Steam the lead.  The Bulldogs were not to be denied though and won the game with two in the bottom of the inning on three hits and a hit batsman. Nathan Ehnstrom took the loss in relief of Zach Ehnstrom. Zach went three innings, gave up five runs, three earned and fanned just one hitter while Nathan went eight plus innings, gave up just six hits and three runs while striking out nine. Zach Ehnstrom was 3-4. scored twice and knocked in a run while the other six hits for the Steam were scattered among the rest of the lineup. John McGuire knocked in a pair of runs while Zach Ehnstrom, Jake McGuire, Kullhem and Krier each had one run knocked in.

Steam     7  9 2

Bulldogs 8 10 0

WP B. Yourczek

LP Nathan Ehnstrom

     Nathan Ehnstrom pitched a complete game four-hitter and was 3-5 with a couple of runs batted in for the Aitkin Steam Sunday in their 8-1 win over the visiting Pierz Bulldogs at Woock Field. Ehnstrom threw just 69 pitches, 58 for strikes to pick up the win. The Steam took the lead in the second as Carson Kullhem singled, moved to second on a groundout and then scored on an error to make it 1-0. Zach Ehnstrom then singled to score the second run of the inning. They made it 3-0 in the fourth Thor Dunham walked and came home on a Nathan Ehnstrom double. After the Bulldogs made it 3-1 in the sixth the Steam scored a run in the seventh to restore the three-run lead. Landon Janzen doubled and scored on a John McGuire single. The Steam opened it up with four runs in the 8th. With two outs Jake Ince was hit by a pitch. Ehnstrom followed with a double to make it 5-1. Janzen singled for another run, a hit by pitch made it 7-1 and when Tucker Holm walked it scored the final run of the inning. Janzen was 2-3 with a run knocked in, McGuire knocked in two runs and the Steam had their third win of the year against five losses.

Bulldogs 1 4  1

Steam    8 8 2

WP Nathan Ehnstrom

LP Brayden Haberman

      The Aitkin Steam outhit the Opole Bears at Woock Field Sunday but came out on the short end of a 4-2 score. The Steam took a 2-0 lead into the 8th, but the Bears scored four runs to take a 4-2 lead and that was the extent of the scoring. Jake McGuire had three of the nine hits recorded by the Steam. Aitkin took a 1-0 lead in the fifth. McGuire reached on a dropped third strike, but was picked off base for the first out.  Drew Paulbeck singled, Zach Ehnstrom singled and John Pelarski brought the run home with a base hit. They made it 2-0 in the 6th. McGuire doubled and scored on a double by Logan Olson. That score held up until the 8th when the Bears took over the contest. A couple of hits and a couple of Steam errors along with a sacrifice fly produced four runs and the Bears picked up the win. McGuire had three hits, Zach Ehnstrom and Pelarski each had two hits and Pelarski and Olson had the runs batted in for the Steam. McGuire went the first seven innings and Paulbeck and Ehnstrom each went one inning. 

Bears   4 8 1

Steam 2 9 2

WP Heinen

LP McGuire

     Sunday's matchup between the Aitkin Steam and St. Mathias turned into an old-fashioned pitcher's duel that wasn't decided until the bottom of the 11trh inning when a balk by Nathan Ehnstrom brought home the only run of the game. Zach Ehnstrom started for the Steam and went 10 1/3 innings before giving way to his brother Nathan. Zach gave up just four hits while striking out eight. Nathan came on in the 11th with one out and a runner on third. The count went to 1-1 and then came the balk which brought home the winning run in the 1-0 St. Mathias victory. Bryce Flanagan went the first nine innings for St. Mathias giving up five hits and striking out 12. The Steam outhit their opponents six to four and the Gobblers left 16 runners on base. John Pelarski and Nathan Ehnstrom each had two hits while Tucker Holm and Logan Olson ech had one hit. 

Steam        0 6 2

St. Mathias 1 4 1

WP C. Knettel

LP Zach Ehnstrom

      The Steam, now 2-4 will be at the Black Sox Friday before hosting the Opole Bears on Sunday.

     Phillip Zynda hit two homeruns driving in five runs as the Pierz Brewers shutout the Aitkin Steam Saturday 10-0. Zynda hit a two-run homer in the 3rd and a three-run homer in the fourth as the Brewers moved to 5-1 on the season. The Steam fell to 2-3 with the loss. Jonah Prokott picked up the win for the Brewers giving up just two hits and striking out five. Jake McGuire took the loss for Aitkin, going four innings, giving up six earned runs and striking out two. Thor Dunham and Carson Kullhem followed him to the hill in the loss. Aitkin mustered only four hits in the game, one each by John Pelarski, McGuire, Kullhem and Tucker Holm. Manager Nathan Ehnstrom after the loss, "We didn't have our normal bats in there today but we battled with what we had. We made some good defensive plays and pitched well to a tight zone."

Brewers  10 12 2

Steam      0 4 0

WP Jonah Prokott

LP Jake McGuire

       The Aitkin Steam came back from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the visiting Upsala Blue Jays Monday 8-4. The win evens the Steam record at 2-2 on the season with a June 7 matchup coming against the Pierz Brewers at Woock Field. The Blue Jays took a 3-0 in the first with a pair of walks and a long homerun by Matt Swanson. The Steam evened it up with three runs in the second started by Drew Paulbeck with a homerun over the left field fence. Joey Simonson singled, Bo Sanford walked, John Pelarski brought one run home with a sacrifice fly and the second came home on the ensuing throw. Three more runs scored in the 5th made it a 6-3 Steam lead. Nathan Ehnstrom grounded to third with the throw getting by the first baseman. Ehnstrom headed for second, then took third as nobody was covering and then came home when the eventual throw got away and the throw to the plate was not in time. Landon Janzen followed that with a double, Jake McGuire doubled for a run and Sanford singled for another. Upsala got one back in their half of the 6th, but the Steam scored twice to make it an 8-4 advantage. Pelarski and Ehnstrom reached on successive errors, Pelarski scored on a wild pitch and McGuire singled home the final run. Logan Olson started for the Steam, then Ehnstrom came on to go the rest of the way to get the win. McGuire was 2-4 with two runs batted in, Pelarski knocked in two and Paulbeck and Sanford had the other two runs batted in. 

BlueJays   4  6 3

Steam       8 12 2

WP Nathan Ehnstrom

LP Brock Cichon

     Landon Janzen hit a homerun and knocked in four runs, but the Aitkin Steam came up short in a 9-8 loss to St. Wendel in their home opener. Trailing 9-8 in the bottom of the ninth the Steam mounted a rally but couldn't get the tying run across the plate. Aitkin took a 3-0 lead in the first as Nathan Ehnstrom singled, Zach Ehnstrom walked, and Janzen belted a homerun over the left field fence. The Saints scored a run in the third, but the Steam got that one back in their half of the inning. Ehnstrom and Ehnstrom singled, Janzen walked, and Jake McGuire got the run home with a sacrifice fly and a 4-1 lead. The Saints cut it to 4-3 in the fourth and then the Steam scored twice in the fifth to gain a 6-3 lead. Zach Ehnstrom singled with one out, Janzen was hit by a pitch, then McGuire singled to score one run and when Hunter Hills struck out, the ball was dropped and on the ensuing throw to first Janzen raced home with the second run. The Saints scored twice in the seventh to make it a 6-5 game, but the Steam got a run of their own to take a 7-5 advantage. Zach Ehnstrom picked up his third hit of the game and Janzen doubled to score the run. A four-run 8th by the Saints gave them the lead at 9-7 but the Steam made it 9-8 in the bottom of the inning. Carson Kullhem walked, Logan Olson and Jake Ince both singled and Nathan Ehnstrom produced a sacrifice fly but that's all they could get and that ended up being the final at 9-8. The Steam put two runners on in the 9th but couldn't get them around and saw their record fall to 1-2 on the season. The Steam got six innings from Zach Ehnstrom and one inning each from Tanner Hills, Thor Dunham and Olson with Dunham giving up the four runs, all unearned, in the 8th to take the loss. The Steam managed 11 hits, three by Zach Ehnstrom and two each from Nathan Ehnstrom, Janzen and McGuire.

Saints  9 11 0

Steam 8 11 1

WP Aiden Micholski

LP Thor Dunham

      The Pierz Lakers pinned a 23-3 loss on the Aitkin Steam Sunday at Legion Park in Pierz. The Lakers jumped out to a 17-0 before the Steam got on the board in the third inning. After two outs the Steam got it going. Joey Simonson walked, Jake Ince singled and Zach Ehnstrom doubled to center scoring two runs. Nathan Ehnstrom doubled to score the third run and that was it for the Steam. The Lakers added three in the fourth, two in the fifth and one more in the seventh. They picked on Carson Kullhem for eight runs, seven of them earned in the first inning, part of their 11-run frame. Tanner Hills gave up six runs in his two innings as the Lakers kept the foot on the gas. Zach Ehnstrom was 2-4 and Nathan Ehnstrom, Nolan Dotzler, Jake McGuire and Ince each added one hit.

Lakers   23 14 0

Steam     3  6 7

WP Carter Petron

LP Carson Kullhem

      The Steam have their home opener Sunday as they host the St. Wendel Saints at 1:30.

      The Aitkin Steam opened the 2025 season with a 13-0 road win at Flensburg Sunday. Zach Ehnstrom and Jake McGuire both knocked in three runs for the Steam who erupted for six runs in the second inning and never looked back. Ehnstrom also got the win on the hill, going five innings with Tanner Hills and Carson Kullhem both pitching an inning in relief. Landon Janzen opened the second by being hit by a pitch. Jake Ince singled, Hunter Hills got hit by a pitch and Jake McGuire singled for two runs. Nathan Ehnstrom then singled for a pair, and Zach Ehnstrom followed with a two-run double, and it was 6-0. Aitkin got two more in the fourth. John McGuire walked, John Pelasrski doubled for a run and Zach Ehnstrom knocked in the other run with a single. Three more runs in the fifth made it 11-0. Ince singled, stole second and came home on a single by Drew Paulbeck. Nathan Ehnstrom singled for a run and the third run came home on a passed ball. The final two runs came in the Steam sixth inning. Paulbeck walked, Hunter Hills was hit by a pitch and Jake McGuire brought both runners home with a double.

Steam   12 12 0

Falcons  0  4 2

WP Zach Ehnstrom

LP Spencer Friesl

       The Steam are on the road again next Sunday against the Pierz Lakers.