Arcadia wins slugfests against Blair-Taylor, Osseo-Fairchild

It was a whirlwind of a week for the Arcadia baseball team in non-conference play, featuring a pair of wins in which they scored a combined 26 runs with a shutout loss wedged in right between them.

The Raiders (9-13, 3-7 Coulee) close out conference play when they host Onalaska Luther on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., then they wrap up the regular season by hosting La Crosse Aquinas on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Arcadia 11 O-F 7

After falling behind 5-0 through four innings, the Raider offense came roaring to life to pull off a comeback win over the Thunder (14-4) last Monday in Osseo.

Arcadia ripped off a six-run rally in the top of the fifth that featured Austin Fernholz’s two-run double, Carson Wozney’s RBI single and Austin Hughes’s sac fly. Fernholz added a two-run single and Wozney followed with an RBI groundout in the sixth. Caleb Pronschinske’s two-run double in the top of the seventh capped off the scoring for the Raiders.

Pronschinske finished 2 for 3 with two doubles, a walk, three RBIs and two runs while Fernholz went 2 for 4 with a double, four RBIs and a run scored.

LC Logan 8 Arcadia 0

The Raider bats fell silent against the Rangers last Tuesday in La Crosse, as they were held to only one hit in a shutout defeat.

Ben Lightfoot’s one-out single in the top of the sixth broke up a potential no-hitter, but Arcadia could not find a run. In addition to the Lightfoot single, the Raiders only other baserunners came courtesy of a pair of walks and a hit by pitch.

Arcadia 15 Blair-Taylor 14

Perhaps the most shocking twist in a wild, back-and-forth contest between the Raiders and the Wildcats (10-7) last Thursday in Arcadia was the fact that no run was scored in the final inning.

Each team laid down the gauntlet early with big rallies in the first inning. Blair-Taylor scored five runs before a single out was recorded, powered by RBI doubles from Travis Pettis and Brayden Paulson along with Kole Trapp’s RBI single.

That was answered in the bottom half of the first with the Raiders’ six-run rally featuring two-run singles from both Austin Fernholz and Carter Wegman along with Deklyn Grzadzielewski’s RBI single.

After the Wildcats briefly tied the game, Arcadia pulled ahead 10-6 through three innings. Blair-Taylor answered with another five-run rally in the top of the fourth that included Ryan Oldendorf’s RBI single.

In the sixth inning, Trapp smacked a leadoff home run to left to tie things up at 12 apiece and Peyton Kelly put the Wildcats ahead by driving in two with a single. The Raiders answered with their own three-run rally featuring Logan Breska’s RBI single and Ben Lightfoot’s two-run single that put Arcadia back ahead 15-14.

Though Blair-Taylor put runners on the corners in the top of the seventh, Breska notched a game-ending strikeout to end a wild win for the Raiders.