With runners on the corners and two outs in the second inning, the Albert Lea VFW Post 442 baseball team seized an opportunity.

Jake Bordewick stole home on a wild pitch to score the only run of the game, Cody Ball pitched a one-hit shutout and Albert Lea halted it’s two-game district skid on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Cannon Falls in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Hayek Field.

“It was heads-up baserunning especially because the ball didn’t get very far away from their catcher,” said Post 442 coach Cory Thomas. “This was a key victory for us.”

In Game 2, Albert Lea (10-9, 7-4 District 1) lost 1-0 against Cannon Falls in a non-district matchup.

Post 442’s last two district games were a 10-3 loss Saturday against Austin and a 10-0 loss Sunday against Stewartville.

However, the team wasn’t at full strength against Stewartville because Bordewick was bumped up to Albert Lea’s Legion Post 56 baseball team for the fifth-place game at the Mulvihill American Legion Baseball Tournament, where he pitched a one-hit shutout and led Post 56 to a 5-0 win over Sleepy Eye.

The Albert Lea VFW team bounced back with Ball on the hill in Game 1. He struck out five batters.

“Our pitching has been good all season, and it continued tonight with another strong performance from Cody,” Thomas said. “He made really good pitches and we played good defense at key moments whenever they had the pressure on.”

In the top of the seventh inning, Cannon Falls looked to rally with no outs and runners on first and second, but Post 442 slammed the door with a double play and groundout fielded by Ball.

Bordewick led Albert Lea at the plate by going 3-for-3. Zach Edwards, who also played for the Legion team on Sunday, was 2-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. Parker Smith, Ben Witham, Dillan Lein and Alex Goodmanson also contributed hits.

“We swung the bat fairly well,” Thomas said. “We just didn’t get a lot of timely hits.”

In Game 2, Goodmanson started on the mound. Although he only allowed one run, Post 442’s run support faltered. Hits were produced by Jesse Hernandez, Garrett Piechowski, Logan Stadheim and Garrett Grandstrand, but Albert Lea was held scoreless.

Post 442 will finish the regular season with four road games in the next 10 days.

Next, Albert Lea will play at 5 p.m. today at Northfield. The divisional playoffs start July 18, and the district playoffs begin July 25.