Aitkin Steam Amateur Baseball

      The Aitkin Steam has had quite a season. They are currently 7-9 heading into the next round of the Region 9C playoffs this Saturday. They are just one win away from a coveted State Tournament berth. Next up is the Pierz Brewers on Saturday at 1:00pm in Opole. The two teams met back in June and the Brewers scored a 10-0 win over the Steam but this is a different Aitkin team now and they are playing just the kind of baseball that might turn around that loss and keep them moving along in the post-season. Jake McGuire has been a big part of the Steam offense this season after a stellar year for the Gobblers this past spring. Stats show he is hitting at a .424 clip while driving in 19 runs to lead the team. Zach Ehnstrom is batting .377 while scoring 11 runs, Nolan Dotzler is at .342 and Nathan Ehnstrom is at .333 while scoring 11 runs as well. He also is second in runs batted in with 14. Nathan has had a good year on the hill as well with a 4-2 record, 50 strikeouts and an E.R.A. of 1.93. Zach is next at 2-2, 25 strikeouts and E.R.A. of 3.02. But this team is just that, everyone has contributed during the season and especially in the past three weeks. They made the Region 9C tourney by beating the Freeport Black Sox in a best of three series, lost to the Pierz Lakers 6-4 and then beating the St. Wendel Saints 5-1. Three sets of brothers dot the roster including Nathan and Zach Ehnstrom, Jake and John McGuire and Hunter and Tanner Hills. Add Landon Janzen, Jake Ince, Thor Dunham, Carson Kullhem, Nolan Dotzler, Owen Foday, Logan Olson, John Pelarski, Drew Paulbeck, Tucker Holm and Mark Rohde and you've got the team that is poised to get to the next level. Good luck Steam!

     The Aitkin Steam bounced back from an opening round loss to the Pierz Lakers to beat St. Wendell 5-1 Saturday to move one win from getting to the State Tournament. Nathan Ehnstrom pitched a complete game for the win, giving up just five hits and helping himself with a two-run single to give the Steam a 2-1 lead. Drew Paulbeck, Owen Foday and Tucker Holm all added runs batted in for the Steam. Jake McGuire added three hits for the winners. The win puts the Steam into a matchup with the Randall/Pierz Brewers winner next Saturday at 1:00pm. A victory there puts them into the State Tournament. The Aitkin Steam battled the #1 seeded Pierz Lakers to the end Friday night before coming out on the short end of a 6-4 game. The loss in the opening round of the Region 9C tourney puts the Steam into a 4:30 matchup Saturday in Pierz hoping to keep their season alive with a win.

     The Aitkin Steam, the #8 seed will meet #1 Pierz Friday night in opening round play in the Region Tournament. Gametime is 6PM in Pierz against the Lakers. They will play Saturday as well. A win Friday puts them in the 7PM game while a loss has them playing at 4:30 with that game also in Pierz.

     The Aitkin Steam played a three-game series with the Freeport Black Sox last weekend with a trip to the playoffs at stake. The two team split a pair at Woock Field on Saturday forcing a deciding game three on Sunday.

     The Aitkin Steam are heading for the Regional this week after winning game three of the series with Freeport Sunday afternoon 9-0 at Woock Field. Jake McGuire finished a four-run rally with a three-run homer over the left field fence in the 5th that moved the Steam lead from 4-0 to 7-0. It was a scoreless game until the bottom of the 4th when the Steam took a 3-0 lead. Zach Ehnstrom singled and Nolan Dotzler laid down a perfect bunt. Jake McGuire doubled to the gap in left to make it 2-0 and then after Drew Paulbeck reached on an error, the Steam executed a perfect steal of home for the third run. Aitkin scored four runs in the 5th but realistically they should have not scored any. Thor Dunham walked, and scored with two outs when a short pop-up between the pitcher and first baseman dropped and Dotzler was safe at first. Nathan Ehnstrom then singled setting the stage for Jake McGuires drive over the left field fence. The Steam scored two runs in the 6th. Paulbeck walked, scored on a hit by Dunham and then Carson Kullhem brought the final run home on a base-hit to center. Zach Ehnstrom, Nolan Dotzler and Jake McGuire each had three hits while Nathan Ehnstrom, John McGuire, Dunham and Kullhem each had one hit. Jake McGuire knocked in five runs for the Steam while Dotzler, Dunham and Kullhem each knocked in one run. Nathan Ehnstrom pitched the first seven innings while Hunter Hills pitched the final two innings in relief. Ehnstrom struck out six while Hills whiffed three batters.

Black Sox  0  6  1

Steam       9 10 0

WP Nathan Ehnstrom

LP Ryan Liebrenz

Game One

    Jake McGuire knocked in Zach Ehnstrom in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Steam a 6-5 win. The Sox took a 3-0 lead in the first as they batted around scoring three runs without the benefit of a hit. They made it 4-0 when the Steam got on the board in the bottom of the third. Two errors put runners on base and Nathan Ehnstrom doubled to right for the first run. The Black Sox made it 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Hunter Hills singled and eventually came around on a ground-out by Nolan Dotzler to make it 5-2. They closed it to 5-3 in the seventh when Thor Dunham singled, scoring Carson Kullhem from second. Two runs in the bottom of the eighth tied the game at 5-5. Dotzler singled and Nathan Ehnstrom homered to left. It stayed that way until the tenth when Zach Ehnstrom singled, moved to second on a hit by Dotzler and came home on Jake McGuires single to left. The Steam banged out 17 hits in the game, three each by Nathan Ehnstrom and Hunter Hills and two each by Zach Ehnstrom, Dotzler, Jake McGuire and John McGuire. Zach Ehnstrom got the win on the hill, pitching ten innings in relief of Jake McGuire. He struck out three and walked four.

Black Sox  5  6 2

Steam       6 17 3

WP Zach Ehnstrom

LP Andrew Kerzmann

Game Two

    The Aitkin Steam scored three runs in the second inning but that was all the offense they could muster as the Freeport Black Sox evened the series Saturday with a 5-3 victory. The Steam big inning started with a single by Carson Kullhem. Hunter Hills doubled and Thor Dunham brought both home with a double to left. Zach Ehnstrom smacked a single to right to get the third run home for the 3-0 lead. The Black Sox scored four in their half of the third and never looked back. The Steam outhit the Black Sox 7-5 but couldn't get the big hit after the second inning. Kullhem and Zach Ehnstrom each had two hits and Dunham had two of the three runs batted in for the game. Drew Paulbeck pitched the final six innings in relief of Jake McGuire, giving up just two hits and striking out five.

Steam      3 7 0

Black Sox 5 5 1

WP Ryan Herdering

LP Jake McGuire

     Zach Gwost belted a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the tenth to give the Randall Cubs an 8-5 victory over the Aitkin Steam in the regular season finale Sunday. The Steam took a 5-4 lead in the 10th but the Cubs rallied for four runs to gain the win. Aitkin took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd as Nolan Dotzler singled, Hunter Hills reached on an error and Thor Dunham brought the run home with a single to right. They took a 4-0 lead in the third. After Jake McGuire led off the inning with a homerun to left, Dotzler singled, Hunter Hills singled and moved up on an error with Dotzler scoring on the play. Owen Foday brought the third run home on a single later in the inning. Randall scored twice in the 4th and picked up another in the 5th. It stayed that way until the bottom of the 9th when the Cubs tied the game with a Brett Strack single. Nathan Ehnstrom doubled in the 10th and later scored on an error at shortstop to give the Steam a 5-4 lead, but the Cubs weren't finished. A walk and two singles tied the game and Gwost ended things with his blast to left. Aitkin finishes the season at 4-7 and will host Freeport Saturday in the first round of the post-season. The two teams will play a best of three series starting with two games on Saturday at Woock Field. John McGuire and Dotzler each had two hits while Jake McGuire, Dunham and Foday each drove in one run. Zach Ehnstrom went four innings and took the loss in relief of Jake McGuire. 

Steam 5  9 1

Cubs   8 10 4

WP Nate Benning

LP Zach Ehnstrom

     The Aitkin Steam came off a nice layoff Friday night to score a 10-5 win Friday over the Black Sox. Jake McGuire had four hits and Nolan Dotzler and Owen Foday added three hits apiece as the Steam moved to 4-6 on the season. Aitkin led 6-0 before the Sox got on the board and the Steam put the game away with three runs in their half of the 7th inning. 

     Aitkin took a 2-0 led in the top of the first as Dotzler singled, Nathan Ehnstrom singled, Jake Ince walked, Carson Kullhem walked for one run and Hunter Hills was hit by a pitch for the second run. They made it 5-0 in the second. Foday walked, Dotzler singled, Ehnstrom singled for a run and McGuire doubled for two more runs. It became 6-0 in the 3rd as Kullhem reached on an error, and Foday singled later in the inning for the run. After the Sox scored two runs in the 4th, Aitkin made it 7-2 in the 6th. McGuire doubled and Ince singled for a run. Three runs in the 7th made it a 7-4 contest. Thor Dunham was hit by a pitch and later scored on an error. McGuire produced a two run-triple for the final runs by the Steam. 

     Nathan Ehnstrom went the distance allowing 13 hits and five runs while walking just two and striking out seven. He threw 151 pitches, 112 for strikes.

Aitkin        10 13 3

Black Sox  5 13 3

WP Nathan Ehnstrom

LP Jaden Norby

      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