Aitkin Steam Amateur Baseball

    The Aitkin Steam salvaged the final game of a three-game weekend Sunday with a 6-2 win over the Riverdogs at Woock Field. Nathan Ehnstrom picked up the win on the hill as he went 7 2/3 innings giving up just five hits and striking out five. Thor Dunham was masterful in relief getting the last four outs on only eight pitches. Ehnstrom, Jake Ince and Jake McGuire all had two hits to lead the offense. The Riverdogs scored first as they scored a run in the top of the second, but the lead didn't last long as the Steam scored four times in their half. Ince reached on an error, McGuire singled to left, Carson Kullhem and Aiden Flanagan followed with singles and Ehnstrom doubled to right for two runs and it was 4-1. After the Riverdogs got a run in the second on an errant throw Aitkin got it back with a run in the 6th. Drew Paulbeck singled, McGuire singled and Nolan Dotzler plated the run with a hit to center. They made it 6-2 in the 8th as Ince singled, Paulbeck reached on an error and Kullhem reached on a fielders choice with the run scoring on the throw.

Riverdogs  2 5 2

Steam        6 12 1

WP Nathan Ehnstrom

LP Marcus Hayes

     The Aitkin Steam lost a pair of games Saturday, dropping the rain delayed game from last week to Clear Lake 3-2 and lost 6-2 to Clearwater. In the finish to the Lakers game Alex Schroeder singled in the bottom of the 9th inning to drive in the winning run after the Steam had tied the game in the top of the inning. Aitkin trailed 2-0 when Nolan Dotzler singled, Zach Ehnstrom doubled and Noah Janzen grounded out for the first run. Aiden Flanagan did the same, and the game was even at 2-2. That set the stage for Schroeders heroics in the bottom of the inning. Zach Ehnstrom took the loss for the Steam. Flanagan was 3-3 to lead the offense while Jake Ince was 2-2 and Nathan Ehnstrom was 2-4.

Steam      2 9 0

Lakers      3 11  0

WP Jackson Phillipp

LP Zach Ehnstrom

     The Clearwater Rivercats took an early 5-0 lead before the Steam was able to get on the board. Aitkin scored twice in the 4th inning as Nolan Dotzler, Noah Janzen and Aiden Flanagan all singled to load the bases. Carson Kullhem walked for one run and Thor Dunham grounded out scoring the second run. Aiden Flanagan was 2-2, Zach Ehnstrom was 2-4 and Nolan Dotzler was also 2-4. 

Steam      2 9 0

Rivercats 6 8 0

WP Andy Nefs

LP Jack Jacobson

      Chase Lyon threw a nifty three-hitter as the St. Wendel Saints scored a 4-0 home win Sunday over the Aitkin Steam. The Saints got all the runs they needed in the bottom of the first scoring two runs as Cohen Habben singled a run home and Logan Harren produced a sacrifice fly for the second run. They scored single runs on the 4th and 8th to move their record to 6-7 while the Steam falls to 3-3. Landon Janzen got the first Steam hit in the 7th and Jake McGuire had a pair of hits for the Steams only offense of the day. They loaded the bases in the 9th, but Lyon fanned Thor Dunham to end the game.
     Dunham went the first four innings for Aitkin giving up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2. Zach Ehnstrom went the last four innings giving up a run and striking out 5. Lyon went the distance for the Saints and struck out 11 while walking 5 hitters.
     The Steam will host the Riverdogs June 21 at Woock Field at 4:00.
Steam    0 3 3
Saints    4 7 0
WP Chase Lyon
LP Thor Dunham


 

     The Aitkin Steam banged out 19 hits Sunday and moved their record to 3-2 with a 14-6 win at Woock Field over the Cubs. Landon Janzen, Noah Janzen and Carson Kullhem all had three hits in the game while Keyon Wesner, Drew Paulbeck and Jake Ince each added two hits to the attack. Thor Dunham threw six shutdown innings in relief of Wesner, striking out three. Zach Ehnstrom pitched the final two innings.

    The Cubs took a quick 1-0 lead in the first but the Steam roared back with a four-run inning. Wesner singled and Landon Janzen blasted his third homerun of the season down the left-field line for a 2-1 lead. Ince followed with a single, John McGuire walked and Noah Janzen singled to load the bases. Two passed balls brought home the other two runs in the inning.  The Cubs took the lead back with four runs in the second. Aitkin got two in their half to make it a 6-5 Steam advantage. Paulbeck drew a walk, Landon Janzen singled, the two runners produced a double steal for one run and Ince singled for the other. One run made it 7-5 in the third as Kullhem and Paulbeck singled and the run came home on a wild pitch. The game remained 7-5 until the Steam scored three in the 7th. Noah Janzen singled, Dunham doubled, Kullhem tripled for two runs and Wesner singled for the other. Four runs in the 8th put the game away. Ince singled, Noah Janzen singled, Carter Masloski picked up his first hit of the day, Kullhem singled for a run, Wesner bounced into an out for another and after a Paulbeck single, Landon Janzen doubled for the final run. Zach Ehnstrom set down the Cubs in the 9th and the Steam had the win.

Cubs        6 12 0

Steam    14 19 3

     Landon Janzen drilled a pair of homeruns Saturday as the Aitkin Steam beat the Quamba Cubs 5-2 on the road. Drew Paulbeck pitched 5 1/3 innings in relief of Jake McGuire to pick up the win. Both pitched well, McGuire fanning 4 and Paulbeck whiffing 7. The Steam took the lead in the first as Nathan Ehnstrom singled and Janzen hit his first homer of the season giving his team a 2-0 lead. The Cubs tied the game in the 4th on a base hit by Lucan Athoy and a bases loaded walk to Logan Sjoberg. It stayed 2-2 until the 8th when the Steam struck again. Ehnstrom doubled, his second hit of the game and after Paulbeck singled, Janzen homered again, this time to centerfield. That made the final 5-2 with Paulbeck striking out five of the final six outs of the game.

     Ehnstrom and Janzen each had two hits while Paulbeck, McGuire and Carson Kullhem had the other three hits for the 2-2 Steam. It was a fun game for Janzen, "I saw the ball well today, it felt good to get back in the win column with the boys. It was also a lot of un hitting a homerun on the same day my little brother Isaiah who hit one earlier in the day in his tournament." Coach Nathan Ehnstrom was happy with the win as well, "We pitched well enough to win and we played good defense behind Jake and Drew. Landon picked us up at the plate with two big swings, I still think we are just getting back into baseball form but a good sign of things to come."

Steam    5 7 0

Cubs      2  7 0

WP Drew Paulbeck

LP C. Koch

      The Gobblers were at Clear Lake Sunday for a matchup with the Lakers but after a couple of rain delays the game was suspended in the 5th inning with the Lakers leading 2-0. The game will be picked up where it left off at a later date.

     The Aitkin Steam fell to 1-2 Monday with a 5-1 road loss at Opole. The Steam scored first with a run in the top of the first as Nathan Ehnstrom doubled, and Landon Janzen brought him home with a single. That was it for the Steam who only mustered up six hits in the game. Janzen had three of the hits while Ehnstrom, Drew Paulbeck and John McGuire had the others. The Bears scored three in the third to take the lead and scored a pair of runs in the seventh. Zach Ehnstrom went the first six innings for the Steam and took the loss while walking four and striking out eight hitters. Drew Paulbeck went one inning, and Carson Kullhem pitched the final inning for Aitkin. They had a number of chances to score but couldn't get a big hit when they needed it.

Steam   1 6 0

Bears    5 7 0

WP Tate Lange

LP Zach Ehnstrom

      Noelan Jones single in the second inning produced the only run of the game as the Aitkin Steam picked up their first win of the season, a 1-0 victory at Woock Field Sunday over the S. Mathias Devils. Drew Paulbeck reached on an error and two ground balls got him to third when Jones hit a line drive to right to get the run home. It was one of only two hits by the Steam, the other being a single by Carson Kullhem in the bottom of the 5th inning. Thor Dunham started on the hill for the Steam and went seven innings, giving up six hits while walking three and striking out ten. Jake McGuire went the final two innings while walking two and striking out two. He fanned the first two hitters in the ninth and got a popup to catcher Nathan Ehnstrom for the final out. Ehnstrom after the game, "Thor carried us on the mound with 10 k's and our defense got us out of a couple jams with double plays. A clean game on our defensive end. A clutch two-out rbi single by Noelan Jones, in his first ever amateur baseball at bat. Their pitcher kept us off balance all day but our pitching and defense did the job for us."

Devils     0 6 4

Steam    1  2 0

WP Thor Dunham

LP Alex Guggisheim

     Next up for the Steam is Monday on the road at Opole for a 1:30 game.

      The Aitkin Steam opened up the 2026 season on the road at Pierz and lost 9-7 decision to the Bulldogs. The Steam scored 5 runs in the 5th inning to erase a 7-2 deficit but the Bulldogs got two back in their half and the two teams were scoreless the rest of the way. Nathan Ehnstrom had a 3-4 day with a run batted in, but he had lots of help. Keyon Wesner was 2-4 with two runs batted in, Landon Janzen was 2-5 with two knocked in and Thor Dunham had a key triple in the five run 5th. Aitkin took a 1-0 lead in the first as Ehnstrom singled and came home on a Janzen double. Pierz tied it and then took a 5-1 lead in the second. Zach Ehnstrom singled and after a wild pitch, came home on a single by Janzen to make it 5-2. Pierz made it 7-2 in the third, but the Steam bounced back with a big inning. Zach Ehnstrom doubled, John McGuire singled, Nathan Ehnstrom doubled for a run, Janzen reached on an error, Wesner singled for a pair of runs and Dunham, (pictured) smacked a triple to tie the game at 7-7. The Bulldogs scored twice in their half of the fifth and neither team was able to score the rest of the game. Nathan Ehnstrom pitched the first three innings for the Steam striking out 2 and gave way to Dunham who went the next four innings striking out 4 but giving up the final two runs to take the loss. Zach Ehnstrom pitched a scoreless 8th. Steam pitchers didn't walk a hitter and threw 119 pitches, 88 for strikes.

Steam     7 12 5

Bulldogs  9 8 1

WP Reese Young

LP Thor Dunham

    The Aitkin Steam season is underway. Let's check the rest of the schedule.

Saturday, May 30-at Quamba-4:00

Sunday, May 31-at Clear Lake Lakers-1:30

Sunday, June 7-Cubs-1:30

Sunday, June 14-at Saints-12:00

Sunday, June 21-Riverdogs-4:00

Sunday, June 28-Flensburg Falcons-1:30

Saturday, July 11-Freeport Black Sox-1:30

Sunday, July 12-at Blue Jays-1:30

Sunday, July 19-at Pierz Brewers-1:30