By Ryan Deal 

605 Sports

The Cardinals defeated the Angels in second round matchups in 2018 and ‘21. On Friday, the Angels got a measure of revenge. 

In the eighth inning, Gau’s two-run double broke a 3-3 tie and came after Wenande was intentionally walked before Gau.

“I think that’s a mistake,” said Wenande about intentionally walking Gau, a former Class B tourney MVP. “Tyson is one of the best hitters we’ve got on the team. He bats three for a reason. He did what he expected him to do.”

Gau smacked Flandreau starter Zak Wallner’s first pitch into deep left field, scoring Reggie Slaba and Wenande for a two-run lead.  

“I only saw three (pitches) the whole game but everyone of them were the same one and I finally stayed back,” Gau said. “I did what I wanted to do, just trying to provide for the team.”

Two batters later, Zallner was replaced by reliever Bret Severtson. Wallner allowed six hits, five earned runs, five walks and struck out two batters through 7.1 innings. 

“He’s a really good pitcher and he had good stuff,” Wenande said. “We knew he was going to be around the zone. We knew there were going to be a lot of strikes. So a lot of chances to put the ball in play.”

Alexandria starter Riley McSherry pitched a complete game, striking out seven batters, allowing six hits, two earned runs and six walks on 143 pitches. 

McSherry and Wallner combined to throw five scoreless innings. But Alexandria broke through in the sixth inning. The Angels loaded the bases, and with one out, Wenande smacked a bases-clearing double into deep right field. 

“There was one out,” Wenande said. “So I was just looking for a pitch to hit and hoping to drive something to the outfield and that’s what I got.” 

The Cardinals scored two runs in the seventh, including a Chris Burke RBI single to left field. Flandreau evened the score in the eighth inning. After Tim Huber was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second, Rick Weber roped an RBI single to left field for a 3-3 tie. 

That set the stage for the Angels in the ninth. After Tucker Kingsbury was hit by a pitch, Jerrod Zens moved him over on a sacrifice bunt. After Wenande was intentionally walked, Gau broke the tie with his two-run double. 

“I am just trying to step up for my team,” Gau said. “Baseball is a lot of mental. So you don’t try to think too much, otherwise you are behind. I just put myself in the right position to try to help my team out.” 

Alexandria’s Michael Schoettmer finished with three hits, while Jacob Giles added a hit. 

For Flandreau, Austin Koenig and Burke had two hits apiece. 

Alexandria will play Platte or the Dell Rapids Mudcats at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the second round. 

“Hopefully we can use it as some fuel,” Gau said. “Every game is going to be tough from here on out. You lose, you go home. So I guess we get to live for another game.”