No-Hitter Not Enough for NRHEG Baseball

Despite a no-hitter thrown by Jack Schultz, the NRHEG baseball team got knocked out of the Section 2AA tournament with a 2-1 loss to St. James Area on Thursday.

St. James put together one run with a few walks in the second inning and plated the game-winning run on a suicide squeeze in the third. Schultz struck out five and walked four.

Panthers coach Drew Paukert told KRFO through an email, "Jack Schultz threw a no-hitter for us tonight, which was more then you can ask of a kid. They had one hard hit ball against him to left field that Cole Thompson made a nice play on to secure the out." NRHEG had six hits. "We had a number of opportunities but were unable to get that clutch hit we needed tonight. In six of the seven innings, we were able to advance a guy to second base. Some base running miscues cost us some scoring opportunities."

Paukert said he was proud of the team, "They could have easily hung their heads three weeks ago when we were sitting in the 15th spot in the section. To their credit, they kept coming to work everyday." The Panthers ended their season with a 9-14 record. According to the Minnesota State High School League website, the Panthers' seniors include CJ Schiltz, Palmer Peterson, Trai Wicks, Jack Skalicky, John Hubly, Dempsey Tucker and Eli Lutgens.

In Section 1AAA girls golf Thursday, Owatonna's Jayce Bogen shot 98 to advance to Monday's second round. OHS finished ninth as a team with 413 and missed the cut. Red Wing has a 25-stroke lead going into Monday at Cannon Falls Golf Club. The Wingers shot 311. Lakeville North is second with 336.