Riederer throws 1-hitter, MVL blanks GFW

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
Minnesota Valley Lutheran lefty Zach Riederer delivers a pitch during a Tomahawk Conference baseball game against Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Tuesday at Johnson Park in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — Dominic Rose’s leadoff single in the fifth may have spoiled Zach Riederer’s bid for a perfect game, but that was all it spoiled.

Riederer and the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers put up six runs in the bottom of the fourth on Tuesday to run away with a 10-0 win over the Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Thunderbirds in a Tomahawk Conference baseball game at Johnson Park.

The game ended in the fifth due to the 10-run lead rule.

The left-handed Riederer allowed just that one hit and no walks while striking out six in the shutout and also delivered at the plate by going 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

Riederer collected both of his RBIs in the fourth on a two-out single up the middle off GFW lefty Layton Uecker-Hamre to give MVL a 6-0 lead.

After Riederer’s hard single up the middle scored two, back-to-back walks to Bradyn Kube and Kaden Peterson ended Uecker-Hamre’s day on the mound. Joshua Vander Plas then doubled to left off reliever Sam Berkner to drive in two more runs and put MVL up 8-0. Brennan Bendix added a two-run single of his own to right to give MVL its 10-0 lead and set Riederer up for a chance at a five-inning perfect game.

Rose had other plans in mind, however, and sent a pitch into left field for a leadoff single in the fifth. Rose did move to second on Riederer’s only wild pitch of the game, but Riederer was dialed in after that and struck out the next three batters for the win.

“I try not to think about that stuff, just keep playing,” Riederer said of his chance at a perfect game. “Just keep throwing strikes. I know my defense played stellar today, [no] errors.”

Riederer was just one of three Chargers with two hits in the win as Jensen Gerdts was 2 for 2 with two runs scored and Connor Bode was 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Uecker-Hamre took the loss in 3 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and four walks for nine runs, four earned. He struck out two.

Bode and Riederer opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles to left. After a double steal, Kube grounded out to score Bode. Peterson walked and swiped second before Vander Plas brought Riederer in on a sac fly to right to give the Chargers the early 2-0 lead.

MVL scored two more in the second, one on an RBI single by Bode that scored Gerdts and another on an error that scored Blake Sexton, who reached on a one-out walk and took second on a passed ball.

As Riederer continued mixing up his pitches and keeping GFW off base, the Chargers put together their six-run fourth that helped put the game away early.

“My curveball started working today,” Riederer said. “I’ve been kind of struggling with that pitch all year and it just kind clicked, just pulling down on it more.”

While it wasn’t a perfect game on paper, MVL head coach Jim Buboltz couldn’t have been much happier with how everything came together Tuesday.

“It all starts with the pitcher throwing strikes, and he threw a lot of them,” Buboltz said. “Getting some defense and then putting some guys in the right spot and getting timely hitting — all three facets there. Hats of to Zach and [catcher] Kaden, KP called a great game and Zach put the ball there.”

The Chargers (8-9, 6-8) have a tough Section 2A test waiting for them at Johnson Park at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday as they host Madelia (12-3). Madelia fell to Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 3-1 on Tuesday at home.

“You want to play teams like that this time of year because that’s what playoffs are going to be like,” Buboltz said. “Our section, 2A, we have Madelia, Springfield, the two Sleepy Eyes, Cathedral, it is loaded with good teams, and we feel like we can be there with this formula that we showed today.”

GFW (6-12, 3-11) travels to take on Sibley East in nonconference action at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Walsh Field in Gaylord.