Recap
Burnsville, MN — When all facets of the game come together at once, it can be a thing of beauty. Burnsville put it all together tonight in a festive Friday night atmosphere at Alimagnet against their friendly neighbors to the south - Lakeville South - and won 7-0 for their second win of the year.
To win 7-0, it is usually a team effort, and pitching, defense and timely hitting were all part of the story for the Blaze. The timely hitting came first for Burnsville in the first inning. They finally got that "big hit" when needed, as senior 1st baseman Ben Meuser lined a bases loaded triple over the center fielder's head to put the Blaze up 5-0 in the first inning.
Senior starting pitcher Cole Voss pitched an absolute gem for the black and gold, delivering 6 shutout innings. Senior lefty Owen Geegan finished off the win with a scoreless 7th inning.
The defense was provided by the rest of the Burnsville 9, but especially by junior 3rd baseman Asher Giese. The play of the game, and maybe of the year, was made by Asher in the 4th inning. With two outs and a runner on 3rd, a Cougar hitter hit a hard grounder right down the 3rd base line where Giese laid out fully for it, snagged it, got up and gunned a laser to first to nip the runner, end the inning, and preserve the shutout. Seriously, ESPN top play of day caliber play.
The five run first inning for the Blaze was much needed, as Burnsville has had a hard time scoring all year. The inning started with a first pitch rocket hit by Giese past the shortstop, followed by walks by Jackson Kieffer, Jonah Dawson and Nick Hughes. Ethan Voss followed with an RBI swinging bunt, which set up Meuser's bomb to center to score 3.
The Blaze plated another run in the 2nd. Giese singled, moved to 2nd on a wild pitch, moved to 3rd on a ground out by Kieffer, and scored on an RBI single by Dawson that hit the first base bag.
Giese got things going again for the Blaze in the 4th with a lead off single up the middle, moved to 2nd on a ground out by Kieffer, and scored when Dawson grounded to the 3rd baseman whose throw in the dirt couldn't be dug out. Giese scored all the way from 2nd on the play to make it 7-0, and the Blaze well on their way to victory.
Cole Voss was dominant on the hill for the Blaze, giving up only 4 hits and 2 walks, and striking out 6. Geegan gave up a walk and a hit, and struck out one. Fittingly, Giese made a nice play on a short hop grounder and gunned the runner at first to end the game.
The Blaze hitting was led by Giese, who went 3 for 4 with 3 runs, Dawson was 1 for 2 with a run, RBI and 2 walks, Ethan Voss was 1 for 2, with a run, RBI and HBP, and Meuser was 1 for 3 with 3 RBI. Hughes walked twice and had an RBI and a run scored.
The Blaze are back in action tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 at Alimagnet, hosting a non-conference game against Rochester Mayo. Kade Bowar gets the nod on the hill.