Sadler, Mastel help Post 18 to two victories

ELKO, Minn. — Mitchell scored 22 combined runs and drew 21 walks in two victories at the Gopher Classic Legion baseball tournament Friday.

Mitchell Post 18 defeated Harrisonville, Mo., 11-6 in its first game before beating Alexandria, Minn., 11-0. Evan Mastel and Michael Sadler picked up wins on the mound for Mitchell, which improved its record to 28-16 overall.

Mastel threw 4 1/3 innings in the win over Harrisonville. He gave up five runs on seven hits, striking out eight and walking four.

“We threw way too many pitches,” Norden said. “It was kind of an uncharacteristic game for us in throwing that many pitches and striking out that much. It was a very slow-paced game and it took two-and-a-half hours.”

Offensively, Seth Cavanaugh was 3-for-5 with four RBIs and Jared Schmidt was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a triple. Mitchell drew 11 walks and had three batters hit by the pitch. Post 18 took a 4-1 lead in the third inning and never trailed from there. After scoring one run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, Post 18 scored four more in the top of the seventh.

Sadler took a perfect game into the fifth inning in the win over Alexandria. He got the first two batters out in the fifth, but the next batter singled through the left side of the infield. Sadler earned the win, throwing all six innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out three.

“His last three games have all been complete-game shutouts,” Norden said of the team’s every day catcher. Matt Larson caught for Sadler for the first five innings against Alexandria, and Alex Herrick finished the day behind the plate. Larson also caught the first game against Harrisonville, giving Sadler a day’s rest from behind the plate.

Post 18 drew 10 walks and had three batters hit by the pitch. Jared Schmidt was 3-for-3 with five RBIs, Josh Schmidt was 2-for-5 and Lakin Neugebauer reached base four times and scored two runs. Mastel also reached base four times.

Post 18 plays at 9 a.m. today against Hopkins, Minn., in Elko. Mitchell also plays two pool games Sunday.

Tags: sports, legion, baseball, updates