The first game of back-to-back weekend doubleheaders for the Albert Lea VFW baseball team went great.

It was mostly down hill from there.

Post 447 defeated the Rochester Rockets 4-2 at Hayek Field before running into defensive trouble, committing a total of 14 errors while dropping two and getting swept at Faribault on Sunday.

It left Albert Lea 8-10 overall, 6-6 in league play and 4-4 in the Western Division.

Alex Paul had the game-winning hit in the victory, driving in Kris Pleiss who had singled in the sixth. Jerrod Stadheim’s RBI single scored Paul with an insurance run. Jared Butler had two hits.

&uot;The sixth-inning rally was by all the guys who subbed in late,&uot; said coach Matt Trygstad. &uot;They showed they were still in the game even though they didn’t start it, and they won the game for us.&uot;

Preston Dahl pitched a complete game for the victory, allowing two hits and 11 walks, with one strikeout. Post 447 played errorless defense.

Rochester scored four earned runs while winning game two 9-2. Peter Bracker started the took the loss. Stadheim was 2-for-3 with a triple and Pleiss was 2-for-4. Brock Sorenson singled.

Six Albert Lea errors were the difference in an 8-7, eight-inning loss to Faribault. Butler was 3-for-4 with two doubles while Truesdell and Brandon Klukow had two hits apiece. Bracker, Pleiss and Donald Graves each contributed one hit. Klukow pitched the first 5 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs &045; one earned &045; on six hits, with eight strikeouts and two walks. Nate Goodnature took the loss in relief, giving up one earned run on two hits, with two intentional walks and one strikeout.

&uot;Klukow pitched a great game, but the errors led to all their runs,&uot; said Trygstad.

There was more at stake than usual in game two, which usually does not count in the division standings. It did because Faribault’s earlier game at Albert Lea was rained out. Faribault scored seven earned runs while winning 15-10. Both teams had three errors.

&uot;In game two, we did not come out with the energy we needed,&uot; said Trygstad.

Truesdell was 3-for-5 with four runs and two stolen bases. Klukow, Sorenson and Casey Ciffra had two hits each. Paul had a hit and two RBIs. Bracker and Graves added one hit apiece. Graves started and took the loss. Stadheim, Sorenson and Zach Hansen pitched in relief.

Post 447 plays at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Waseca.

Albert Lea 4, Rochester 2

R

200

000

0 &045; 2

2

1

AL

200

002

x &045; 4

5

0

WP &045; Preston Dahl

Rochester 9, Albert Lea 2

R

400

400

1 &045; 9

10

1

AL

110

000

0 &045; 2

5

5

LP &045; Peter Bracker

Faribault 8, Albert Lea 7

AL

012

112

00 &045; 7

10

6

F

000

124

01 &045; 8

8

2

LP &045; Brandon Klukow

Faribault 15, Albert Lea 10

F

331

420

2 &045; 15

14

3

AL

220

104

1 &045; 10

12

3

LP &045; Donald Graves