Park pitchers Jackson Tessman and Brady Drkula combined to throw a 2-hitter as Park won a thriller at home Monday, slipping past visiting White Bear Lake 1-0.

It was Park’s sixth straight win on the season/ The Wolfpack improved to 9-3 in the Suburban East Conference and 9-4 on the season. Park stands tied for second in the SEC, one game behind No. 2 Stillwater and tied with Mounds View.

Park scored the only run of the game in the third inning thanks to some nifty base running by Micah Runion combined with a crucial error by the White Bear Lake right fielder. Runion was hit by a pitch to open the inning, then stole second and came home on the error.

White Bear Lake’s pitching was just as good as Park’s as their dup allowed just one hit to the Wolfpack in six innings, a single by Josh Hatano in the sixth inning.

Tessman went five innings and allowed just two hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Drkula replaced Tessman to start the sixth and set the final six batters down in order to earn the save. Drkula struck out three in two innings, including the final two batters who struck out swinging.

Park has two more home games this week, hosting conference-leading Stillwater (10-2, 12-2) Wednesday, then Woodbury (8-4, 9-4) on Friday, May 13, both games starting at 4:30 p.m.

Park 5, Mounds View 1

Brady Drkula threw a complete game three-hitter and Park won its fourth straight game with a 5-1 decision at Mounds View Wednesday.

Drkula went the distance, allowing just three hits and one earned run over seven innings. He struck out three and walked two.

The game was scoreless until Mounds View pushed across a run in the bottom of the fourth. Park responded in the top of the fifth with four runs, then added another in the seventh.

Blake Johnson got things rolling for the Wolfpack in the fifth with a leadoff single. He then went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Sam Janski. Jackson Tessman singled. After two outs, Micah Runion doubled to score Janski. Tessman then scored on a wild pitch.

Tessman was at it again in the bottom of the seventh, singling, going to third on a single by Josh Hatano and then stealing home to make it a 5-1 game.

Park 10, East Ridge 3

Sam Janski pitched a 3-hit shutout and the Wolfpack batters hammered East Ridge pitching in a rivalry win Friday. Not to say that East Ridge pitchers didn’t hammer the Park batters. They did. Five Park batters were hit by pitches, including Josh Hatano and Micah Runion twice each.

“We’re doing a lot of little things and a lot of mental things well,” said head coach David Darr. “With a new coach and a new philosophy of what I’m trying to do. We talked a little bit about some of that stuff. It’s really just kind of sinking in about extending at bats and having a mentality of just fighting, fighting and fighting and being productive even if you’re making an out, and make pitchers throw more pitches and not just giving away at bats. And we’ve really started to do that.

“Our fielding and our pitching this week have been dynamite,” Darr added. “We’ve gotten a lot of double play balls and our pitching – we’ve hit the ball pretty much all year except fort eh first game – but our pitching has really come around. Guys have figured it out and our defense – we felt we were going to field the ball well and we are consistently. We’re doing what we need to do to be successful.”

Park scored three runs in the first inning, led 4-1 after two, then built an 8-1 lead with four runs in the fourth inning.

Jackson Tessman was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice and three runs batted in. Hatano went 1-for-2 with a double and scored three runs with an RBI. Brady Strand was 1-for-3 with a double and drove in two runs.

Hatano got Park on the board after being hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first. He went to third on an error, then scored on a wild pitch. Strand then drove in two runs with a double, scoring Micah Runion, who was also hit by a pitch.

Park broke the game open with a four-run fourth inning. Janski and Tessman both singled surrounded by four of the first six Park batters being hit by pitches Janski allowed three earned runs in seven innings of work, striking out six while walking three.

“My curveball was working well. It wasn’t anything special, but it was good enough to not let them hit it good,” said Janski. “They were just rolling over, hitting ground ball. I really like pitching to the defense when the defense plays. To my knowledge they made almost every play.”

It was Park’s fifth straight win after starting the season 3-4.

“Our pitching has been really, really good the last couple games,” said catcher Will Smoot. “Our atbats are getting a lot better. We’re forcing them into counts and we’re getting hits, we’re getting runs, forcing errors, all that stuff. So I think we’ve just been playing a lot better baseball and we’re just playing better as a team.

“We can’t settle,” Smoot added. “Every team is good in this conference, so we’ve just got to keep playing.”

Park senior catcher Will Smoot readies a throw to first base against East Ridge Friday. Photo by John Molene