Jun 25, 2025
Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond’s Kade Schlegel slides under the tag of Pocahontas Area player Liam Trimble on Tuesday at Rogers Park. For more photos, visit CU.messengernews.net
The St. Edmond baseball team gave themselves a chance here Tuesday against Twin Lakes Conference co-leader Pocahontas Area.
Down by two entering the seventh, the Gaels cut the deficit to one and had a runner on when Gabe Halligan was able to get the 21st out and secure a 4-3 win for the Indians.
Pocahontas Area (14-2 overall) is undefeated in the TLC and tied with Emmetsburg at the top. On Tuesday, Carson Bunda was 2-for-2 with three RBI. Karson Welander and Trevor Stuhrenberg had two hits.
Welander, a freshman, scored twice and stole two bases, adding to the 86 the Indians had swiped on the year entering the night. Stuhrenberg, a senior, also stole two bases as they now have 92 this season.
“That is the way the game of baseball is supposed to be played,” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “Not winning by 10 runs or kicking the ball around. That was just a really good game.
“We had our chances, but we just couldn’t get a timely hit. I thought our guys did a great job against a well-coached team.”
St. Edmond (2-17) stranded 13 runners on base, including seven in scoring position. In the first, third and fourth innings, the Gaels had the bases loaded but tallied just one run total.
Eighth-grader Blake Bartlett was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI-single, classmate Julian Blanco had two hits with an RBI-single and Garrett Royster — another eighth-grader — drove in a run as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.
“I’m walking away from here feeling very confident in our team,” Szalat said. “We’ll get back out at practice on Wednesday and work on a few key things to try and get better at.
“Jack (McElroy) might have had his best pitching performance of the year on the mound for us.”
McElroy, a junior, went six innings, striking out four while walking just one. He retired six in a row and eight of nine at one stretch, with his defense turning a double-play in the third.
Next action for Pocahontas Area will be Wednesday when they host West Bend-Mallard on Senior Hero Night beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Gaels are off until Monday when they head to sixth-ranked (Class 3A) Algona for a North Central Conference doubleheader starting at 5 p.m.
POCAHONTAS AREA 4, ST. EDMOND 3
PAC 110 020 0 — 4 11 2
St. Edmond 001 001 1 — 3 8 2
WP–Gabe Halligan (1-0, 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 1 BB). LP–Jack McElroy (1-3, 6 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 4 K, 1 BB).
2B–PA: Karson Welander, Carson Bunda; SE: Blake Bartlett. RBI–PA: Carson Bunda (3), Ethan Bowder; SE: Julian Blanco, Blake Bartlett, Garrett Royster. SB–PA: Karson Welander (2), Adam Marsh, Ethan Bowder, Trevor Stuhrenberg (2); SE: Kinnick Henning, Ethan Swisher, Grant Galles.
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