Becker’s walk-off single lifts Madelia over Wabasso

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
Madelia’s Tate Becker celebrates after his walk-off hit against Wabasso Saturday in a nonconference baseball game at ISG Field in Mankato.

MANKATO — Tate Becker’s walk-off hit over the center fielder’s head on Saturday lifted Madelia to a 3-2 win over Wabasso in a nonconference baseball game at ISG Field.

“I knew he was going to throw a fastball,” Becker said. “Just looking to jump on it early and hit something in play.”

Becker said he has had a walk-off hit before, but this one felt more impactful to him.

“Just having my teammates and my friends around me in that moment, all them cheering for me, it felt pretty good,” he said.

Zach Jacobs got the win for Madelia, throwing nine strikeouts while allowing three hits and one earned run in seven innings.

“Zach is a great kid,” Madelia head coach Jimmy Kiefer said. “He works tremendously hard, he’s one of the hardest-working kids we’ve got, and he’s very reliable. He’s going to go out there and he might not throw the hardest, but he’s going to go out there and he’s going to fill it out with strikes and he’s always going to give us a chance. I was very proud of his effort today.”

At the plate for Madelia, Kyle Pietsch was 2 for 3 with a triple and an RBI, while Tony Zaleski was 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Becker had a double and an RBI.

Joe Liebl took the loss for Wabasso, striking out nine while allowing one earned run on seven hits. At the plate for the Rabbits, Liebl had a triple and a run scored, while Jayden Remiger had an RBI.

Wabasso started off the scoring in the first, when Ashton Rohlik reached home on an error. It was the only error that Madelia committed, as the team played clean defense throughout.

“[Wabasso] played a really quality game, they had a really good pitcher,” Kiefer said. “That was a very defensive game, doing the little things right and playing clean defense, getting bunts down. We hung in there and whoever made the last play was going to get the game.”

Madelia responded with a run of their own in the first on a Wabasso error, with Zaleski reaching home. Unlike Madelia, however, errors continued to plague Wabasso for the remainder of the game, and they finished with four errors.

Wabasso scored again in the fourth inning, with a triple by Liebl resulting in a run after Remiger hit a single. Madelia once again responded in the bottom of the inning, with Noel Davila singling and being brought home on a triple by Pietsch.

After two more scoreless innings, Madelia took to offense in the seventh. Errors cropped up again for Wabasso, with both Eric Anderson and Zaleski reaching base on infield mishaps. Becker took advantage of this with his game-winner, ending in celebration with his teammates.

Madelia played another game at ISG FIeld against Windom Area after the win over the Rabbits, but it were unable to take home another win as Windom Area won 3-2.

Becker took the loss in the game, throwing 11 strikeouts while allowing three runs, none earned, on two hits in seven innings. Anderson led the team on offense, collecting a hit and two RBIs. Davila and Pietsch each had a run and a hit in the game.

Madelia plays at New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva on Monday. Wabasso hosts Minnesota Valley Lutheran on Monday.