The Algona baseball team checked another box in their quest to qualify for the state tournament for the first time since 2014, defeating Boone 2-1 last night at Bulldog Park in the class 3A – substate 2 second round.
Algona starting pitcher Tate Slagle bent but didn’t break, which was never more evident than the fourth inning. With the game still scoreless, Tate Carlson hit a one-out bloop single to left, Archie Bell drew a walk, and Martin Smith bunted down the third base line for an infield single. Leadoff hitter Luke Moore then hit a line drive to left-center field seemingly destined for the gap, but Bulldog left fielder Tate Garman made a diving catch, then threw to second base to double off Bell and keep Boone off of the scoreboard.
The fourth inning was not the only missed scoring opportunity of the night for the Toreadors, as they left runners at first and second base in each of the first two innings. Boone also had runners at the corners and only one out in the third, but Slagle picked Landon Grabau off of first and struck out Cole Bowers to end the threat. By the end of the game, Boone had left ten runners stranded on base.
After Algona had two on with one out in the first inning, the offense went quiet, as Toreador starter Reid Carr retired eight Bulldogs in a row, getting the last two Algona hitters in the first inning out, and working 1-2-3 second and third innings.
Algona broke through for the game’s first run in the fourth inning, as Aiden Ulrich reach via a leadoff walk, courtesy runner Levi Walker advanced to second on a wild pitch, then went to third on a Logan Lentz groundout. With one out, Reid Louwagie laid down a squeeze bunt as Walker came home to score, avoiding the tag of catcher Noah Davies as he ran by.
Boone delivered a quick answer in the top of the fifth, as Davies took matters into his own hands, hitting a single to lead off the inning, then stealing second and third base, and eventually scoring on a wild pitch to tie the game at one.
In the bottom of five, the eight and nine hitters in the Bulldog lineup set the table, as Daniel Kemna dropped a perfect bunt single down the third base line, and Dawson Elsbecker lined single to center field to put runners at first and second to start the inning. Garman’s sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third, and Slagle would be intentionally walked to load the bases. The intentional walk did not pay off, as Carr walked the ensuing batter Aiden Ulrich with the bases loaded to give Algona a 2-1 lead. The Bulldogs were unable to add any more runs, as Lentz popped out and Louwagie struck out to end the threat.
Before hitting the pitch count limit, Slagle struck out the side in the sixth inning, working around a walk and a hit batsman. Slagle finished his outing at 113 pitches, allowing one run on three hits, walking five, hitting three batters, and striking out six.
Tate Garman would relive Slagle in the seventh and walk the leadoff batter Davies to start the inning. After that, Garman settled in, striking out Dylan England, getting Grabau to fly out the right, and punching out Bowers to end the game and pick up his second save of the season.
Slagle picked up the victory, improving his record to a perfect 8-0. Carr was the losing pitcher, falling to 4-5 after posting a stat line of 5.1 innings pitched with three hits and two runs allowed, walking four batters and striking out two.
With the win, Algona advances to the substate 2 championship on Wednesday night with a trip to state on the line, facing the winner of Tuesday night’s North Polk vs. ADM game. The win gives Algona their first victory over Boone since 2016, snapping an eight game losing streak to the Toreadors, and improves the Bulldogs to 26-7, while Boone ends the season at 20-15.
