By Scott A. Kolb

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

Solid pitching is always the cornerstone of success for any baseball team and the Riverland Blue Devils have two of the best hurlers in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, South Division.

Brady Banse and Brandon Huhn, both sophomores for the Blue Devils, shared the honor for MCAC South pitchers-of-the-week as they each recorded a win last week at Dick Seltz Field.

Banse got the first home win of the season in the second game of last Friday's home doubleheader against Northland Community College. This gave the Blue Devils a split in their first two home games of the season.

Pair of aces

In the shutout win, Banse went the distance on the hill, gave up only four hits, one walk, and struck out three batters. He is now 2-1 overall on the season with 1.53 ERA. Banse has struck out 14 and walked only eight, while giving up 18 hits in 18-and-a-third innings pitched.

Huhn had 10 strikeouts in last Saturday's 4-1 win over Anoka-Ramsey. He pitched all seven innings, allowing one earned run, one walk, and five hits.

For the season, Huhn is now 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA. He has 23 strikeouts, issued only six walks, and allowed just 15 hits in 16 innings of mound work. The only loss came during the spring training trip to Florida.

"They're definitely both team leaders and we turn to them when we need a win," Riverland coach Scott Koenigs said. "Brady and Brandon lead by example as they throw strikes and don't walk people. They challenge hitters and don't back down on the mound.

"We'll need them to be at their best this season if we hope to break our six-year state tournament drought. We're going to throw out our two aces for Friday's division openers against Dakota County."

Trio of twinbills

Riverland (14-5) returns to the diamond this afternoon with a non-divisional doubleheader against Hibbing Community College at Seltz Field. This starts a stretch of six games in three days for the Blue Devils.

The fun really starts on Friday afternoon when Riverland plays host to Dakota County, the ninth-ranked team in the country for NJCAA Division III. These will be the first two games in the MCAC South and critical to potential state tournament aspirations for the Blue Devils.

The same two teams then do battle again on Saturday in another divisional doubleheader. The second set of MCAC South games will be in Burnsville.

"Our pitching is set up for this crucial stretch of games," Koenigs said. "Zach Vlietstra and Brian Voigt will pitch against Hibbing, then we have Huhn in the opener on Friday and Banse in the late game against Dakota County. Mitch Jaeger and Ryan Palmer will start on Saturday.

"Dakota is a tough team and we have to be ready to play ball. We probably would've been ranked in the top 10 if we hadn't lost to Central Lakes in the late game last Saturday. That was painful, so now we have to take care of business in the division."

Next level

Banse and Huhn are roommates, who enjoy the good-natured competition of vying for the role of pitching ace on the team. Their statistics speak for themselves and success at the junior college level will lead to better things in the future.

During the fall, Banse signed a letter of intent to pitch on a scholarship for his final two years of college at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. According to the coach, Huhn has received several scholarship offers and is currently mulling off his prospects for next season.

With only four teams in the MCAC South, the Blue Devils will play the other three in home-and-away doubleheaders for a total of 12 divisional games. The Blue Devils need their two aces to be in top form for those big games which lie ahead.

It's a short divisional run and the Blue Devils must protect their home field to make the post-season playoffs. The weather is supposed to be nice for this series of gams and the stars will be out on the mound at Dick Seltz Field.