No. 5 Beckman goes back to basics to top No. 1 Cascade

CASCADE – Dyersville Beckman Coach Tom Jenk has coached long enough to have a few tricks up his sleeve.

So, when the Blazers were struggling at the plate a couple weeks ago he pulled one of them out.

He had players hit off a tee, following exercises from Oregon State's baseball program, and it has paid dividends.

Class 2A fifth-ranked Beckman pounded out 11 hits and received a strong outing from starter Nick Wilgenbusch, defeating rival No. 1 Cascade, 4-1, last night at American Legion Field.

'We hit the ball,” Jenk said. 'It is something we've been working on the last couple weeks. I brought out some old drills. The kids have really bought into it. We've really been stroking the ball the last couple weeks.”

The hits came in key moments as well. In the third, Beckman (15-7) broke a scoreless tie with consecutive two-out hits by Conner Klostermann and Logan Welling. Klostermann reached on a single to left, scoring on Welling's double over the right fielder's head. Welling scored on a bases loaded walk to Tony Stelken, giving Beckman a 2-0 edge.

Klostermann added an RBI double in the fourth, plating Riley Legrand, who led off with a bunt single. Klostermann went 4-for-4, powering the Blazers.

Confidence has been key for the all-stater.

'If you don't have confidence in yourself, no one is going to have it for you,” he said. 'I just wanted to go up there and do whatever was needed for my team.”

Freshman Jackson Bennett had two hits and Sam Stelken had an RBI, supporting Wilgenbusch, who stymied the Cascade batters. He tossed a complete game, allowing an unearned run and just four hits, while striking out five.

'I put the ball in the strike zone,” Wilgenbusch said. 'The defense made all the plays for us.”

Cascade (18-3) pushed a run across in the bottom of the third. Bryce Simon reached on an error and scored on a throwing error on Luke Recker's grounder to second.

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