Albert Lea senior Sorenson leads team on mound, at plate

Albert Lea baseball starting pitcher Cole Sorenson struck out nine batters Thursday and knocked in over half of the team’s runs in 5-1 win at Rochester Mayo.

Tigers coach Joe Sczublewski called it an all-around good win against a the Section 1AAA defending champions who returned six of nine starters from last season’s team.

“We showed good improvement from our opening-day victory,” Sczublewski said. “We ran the bases aggressively and played outstanding in the field.”

The Spartans (0-1, 0-1 Big Nine) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning before J.T. Bellrichard tied the game with an RBI double in the second inning. The Tigers (2-0, 2-0 Big Nine) added two more runs in the third and one each in the final two innings.

Sorenson held the Spartans to four hits, while walking one and allowing no earned runs.

“Sorenson pitched an outstanding game,” Sczublewski said. “In his first start on the mound this season, he mixed up his pitches very effectively around the play and was hitting the corners the whole game.”

Defensively, Sczublewski said left fielder Cory Hansen and shortstop Aaron Klatt also played well.

Sorenson finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. Conner Kortan was 3-for-4 with an RBI and Hansen went 2-for-3. Makael Lunning also had a hit.

The Tigers play again at 5 p.m. Tuesday against the Mankato West Scarlets at Hayek Field. The Scarlets return most of their starters from last season’s team which finished 14-9.

Albert Lea 5, Rochester Mayo 1

AL 012 001 1 — 5 9 1

RM 100 000 0 — 1 4 0

WP — Cole Sorenson 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

LP — Brandon Zywicki 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO