By Scott A. Kolb

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

Riverland rallied from a first-gane loss to get a split of Friday's baseball doubleheader against Northland at Dick Seltz Field.

The non-conference twinbill was the home opener for the Riverland Blue Devils. In the first game, the home team looked like it hadn't played in two weeks and lost 6-1.

Blue Devils ace pitcher Brady Banse strutted his stuff on the mound in the late game and led his team to the split. Banse fired a four-hit shutout in the second game of the day for a 5-0 win.

"We just didn't hit in the first game," Riverland coach Scott Koenigs said. "Northland threw their ace at us, and some of our guys didn't have a plan of attack at the plate. We chased a lot of bad pitches, and it was our worst game of the season."

Rough start

Mitch Jaeger got the pitching start in the opening game for the Blue Devils against Kyle Nowacki of Northland. It was a scoreless pitching duel through the first three innings, then the visitors broke the ice with a run in the top of the fourth.

Defensive miscues plagued the Blue Devils in the fifth, and Jaeger was tagged with three more runs. That was his final inning on the hill as Kody Retterath finished the game in relief.

The only run of the first game for Riverland came in the bottom of the seventh. Andy Behnke continued his hot hitting and laced a triple to start the Blue Devils rally.

After a strikeout, Derek Emanuel came up and drove home the lone run for Riverland. Emanuel hit into a groundout to get Behnke home and avert the shutout. Brian Voigt then became the 10th strikeout victim of Nowacki to end the game.

"Mitch didn't pitch that bad, but we didn't give him any help," Koenigs said of the loss. "This was our first game since we left Florida two weeks ago, and it was an uninspired effort. Their pitcher was successfully wild and we helped him out."

Mound gem

There would be no sweep for the visitors with Banse toeing the rubber in the late game.

The Blue Devils hurler got ahead early in counts and kept opposing runners off the bases. This allowed the Riverland offense to make amends for the first-game defeat.

On a cold day at the Riverland complex, Banse showed his resolve by pitching in short sleeves. The biting northwest wind only enhanced his repertoire of off-speed pitches. The offense obliged their ace with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

"I hate wearing long sleeves and don't care about the cold," Banse said. "We have a lot of confidence that we're going to win every game, so the loss in the opener was tough to take. It was my job to help us bounce back.

"The guys gave me an early lead and the defense was solid the rest of the way. All of my pitches were working and it was great to be back on the mound."

Salvage a split

The offense added solo runs in the second and third innings to give Banse a comfortable cushion on the hill. Jeff Huth had a trio of RBIs to lead the hitting attack.

Behnke hit another triple and scored a pair of runs in the win. Behnke has now hit seven triples on the season, which is a school record.

"Brady did a nice job of throwing first pitch strikes and got them to hit grounders," Koenigs said. "We needed him to get the split, and he kept their hitters off-balance the whole way. It was a good way to end the day. We were happy just to get outside and play some ball."

Riverland (11-4) plays host to a six-team weekend tournament starting this afternoon.

The first game for Riverland is scheduled for 2 p.m. against Anoka-Ramsey, and the late game will be against Central Lakes. There are two more games scheduled for Sunday at the Riverland complex.

NORTHLAND 6, RIVERLAND 1

First game

Northland 000 132 0 -- 6 12 2

Riverland 000 000 1 -- 1 2 2

Riverland: Andy Behnke 1-3, SB, 3B, R; Derek Hahn 1-2, HBP; Derek Emanuel 0-3, RBI. LP: Mitch Jaeger 5 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 HB, 4 K. RP: Kody Retterath 2 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 1 HB, 0 K.

RIVERLAND 5, NORTHLAND 0

Second game

Northland 000 000 0 -- 0 4 2

Riverland 311 000 x -- 5 7 2

Riverland: Zach Vlietstra 2-4, 2B, R; Kyle Starkey 1-2, walk, R, RBI; Hahn 1-3, 2B, R; Behnke 1-3, 3B, 2R, RBI; Jeff Huth 2-2, walk, 2B, 3 RBIs. WP: Brady Banse 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 HB, 3 K.