A no-hitter and another walk-off win for the Tiger baseball team
The Lake City varsity baseball team dropped its first game of the week on the road against Class AAA Stewartville, 8–5, before bouncing back with an extra-inning walk-off win in Thursday’s rematch, 7–6. The Tigers then traveled to St. Charles for a key section matchup and earned a 2–0 victory behind a no-hitter from Luke Fleming.
Monday, May 4 at Stewartville
Lake City found itself in an early hole after Stewartville scored two runs in both the first and second innings to take a 4–0 lead.
The Tigers got on the board in the fourth inning after Mason Glomski singled with two outs, stole second, and later scored on a Stewartville error off the bat of Kolten Poncelet.
Stewartville answered immediately with another run before Lake City rallied again in the fifth. Colter Hegge led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball, and stole third. After Luke Fleming drew a walk, Tate Siewert delivered a two-RBI double over the left fielder’s head to cut the deficit to 5–3.
The Tigers continued to battle in the sixth inning. Glomski walked, advanced on a groundout, and scored on another Stewartville error. Courtesy runner Greyson McElmury later scored on a Fleming RBI double to pull Lake City within one.
However, Stewartville responded once again with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Lake City threatened in the seventh after Cody Bremer was hit by a pitch and Noah Meyer and Jaxson Richardson singled to load the bases, but the rally fell short in an 8–5 loss.
Hegge led the Tigers offensively with two hits. Fleming (RBI), Siewert (2 RBI), Noah Meyer, Richardson, and Glomski each added one hit.
Thursday, May 7 vs. Stewartville
In Thursday’s rematch, Lake City gave the Senior Night crowd a thriller, battling back for an 11-inning walk-off victory.
The night began with a special moment as senior Bradyn Asfahl, whose season ended after one game because of a knee injury, suited up and took the field for one final start as a Tiger before being subbed out after the first pitch.
Lake City escaped an early Stewartville threat before scoring first in the bottom of the opening inning. Tate Siewert reached via hit-by-pitch, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a Fleming double. Fleming later came home on a Cody Bremer single to give the Tigers a 2–0 lead.
Stewartville answered quickly with five runs in the second inning, capitalizing on defensive miscues. Despite a spark from senior Chris Senne, who recorded his first varsity hit with a double over the left fielder’s head, the Tigers were unable to score in the inning.
Trailing 6–2 entering the bottom of the third inning, Lake City began chipping away. Hegge doubled, stole third, and scored on a Fleming groundout in the third. In the fourth, singles from Cooper Meyer and Landon Wiemann set up a sacrifice fly from Senne to cut the deficit to two. Then in the fifth, Hegge singled, stole second, and scored on another Fleming RBI single before Bremer drove in the tying run later in the inning.
Both teams traded momentum-shifting defensive plays over the next several innings before the Tigers finally broke through in the bottom of the 11th. Siewert singled to begin the inning, and after Hegge reached on a fielder’s choice with two outs, he stole both second and third base. Fleming then delivered the game-winning infield single to score Hegge and send the Tigers home victorious.
Fleming also earned the win on the mound, throwing 2.2 innings of relief while allowing just one hit and striking out five. Siewert added 4.1 scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts.
Several Tigers recorded multi-hit performances, led by Cooper Meyer with four hits. Fleming finished with three hits, four RBI, and two runs scored, while Hegge added two hits, three stolen bases, and three runs scored. Bremer and Senne each recorded two hits as well.
Saturday, May 9 at
St. Charles
Lake City carried its momentum into Saturday’s section matchup against St. Charles, earning a quick and efficient 2–0 victory in a game that lasted just over an hour.
The Tigers collected all five of their hits in the fourth inning. Tate Siewert started the rally with a single, and after two outs, Lake City strung together four consecutive hits from Fleming, Cody Bremer, Noah Meyer (RBI), and Cooper Meyer (RBI).
That was all the offense the Tigers needed thanks to Fleming’s dominant performance on the mound.
Fleming threw a complete-game no-hitter, striking out nine St. Charles batters while allowing no hits over seven innings. The no-hitter is believed to be Lake City’s first in at least two decades.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, the Tigers conclude the regular season this week with a challenging slate of games. Lake City travels to Mayo Field in Rochester on Monday to face Rochester Lourdes before heading to Kenyon-Wanamingo on Tuesday. The Tigers then host Rochester Lourdes on Thursday in their final home game of the regular season before traveling to Mankato on Saturday to close out the regular season.
Lake City will receive its Section 1AA playoff seeding over the weekend, with playoffs beginning Wednesday, May 20.