Park got a little bit of everything in a 9-1 win over visiting River Falls in a non-conference baseball game Monday.

The Wolfpack got stellar pitching from Tucker Novotny and Joshua Hatano, and both timely hitting and top-notch defense up and down the lineup.

Park improved to 13-6 on the season. River Falls fell to 5-8.

It was a good bounce back victory for the Wolfpack, who dropped a 7-4 decision at Cretin-Derham Hall Friday, May 21, to end the conference season.

“I think we did all right,” said Park senior catcher Jackson Weidner. “We could have hit the ball a little better than we did today but overall it was a good, solid win.”

Weidner also thought the Wolfpack played well defensively.

“Heading into sections you’ve got to have that good defense to go through,” Weidner said. “It’s always nice to be playing good defense at the end of the year here. I think we could pick it up a little more but overall I think we’re playing a solid defensive game right now. If we keep that up we’ll be looking good going into sections.”

The Wolfpack finished tied for second in the Suburban East Conference with a 12-6 conference record. Second- ranked Stillwater finished first in the conference with s 14-4 record, followed by Park, East Ridge and Woodbury, all of which finished 12-6.

Park opened with two runs in the first inning, and then made it a 5-0 game with three more runs in the fourth. The Wolfpack broke the game open b scoring four runs in the fifth to put the game away.

“We hit the ball today,” said Park senior Clayton Beaurline. “We put the ball in play and we did good in the situations where we had runners on where in previous games we struggled with that. I think our situation hitting was a lot better than in the last couple weeks for sure.

“I think the one thing we could have done a little bit better was run the bases, steal off these guys” Beaurline added. “Other than that I think we did real well:” The Wolfpack got strong pitching Monday as Novotny and Hatano combined for nine strikeouts, five walks, four hits and one run. Novotny started and pitched the first four innings to get the win. He struck out nine batters while walking just two. He allowed three hits and no runs for a perfect EA of 0.00. Hatano came in relief for the fifth inning and also had a good outing. He gave up just one hit, one run, walked three with no strikeouts.

Park also fared well at the plate, collecting 10 hits off River Falls pitchers.

Park (13-6) plays a con-conference game at Hastings (11-8) Wednesday, May 26, to wrap up the regular season, starting at 7 p.m. at Vet’s Park in Hastings.

Park scored nine runs on 10 hits, led by Sam Janski who went 1 for 3 but drove in three runs with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Josh Hatano was 2-for-2 with two walks and scored three runs. Micah Reunion was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

Park junior pitcher Joshua Hatano fields a bunt and throws to first for the out against River Falls Monday afernoon. Photo by John Molene

Park’s Benjamin Johnson dives in to score a run ahead of the throw as the Wolfpack scored three runs in the fourth inning to take a 5-0 lead. Photo by John Molene