The St. Michael-Albertville Knights will face off against the Sartell-St. Stephen Sabres at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. St. Michael-Albertville's pitching crew has only allowed 3.3 runs per game this season, so Sartell-St. Stephen's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
St. Michael-Albertville is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Maple Grove just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell 5-2 to the Crimson.
St. Michael-Albertville got a good showing from Blake Klinkhammer, who struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off five hits (and not a single walk). Klinkhammer has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Taylan Siens was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, Sartell-St. Stephen earned a 7-2 win over Alexandria last Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Sabres.
Brady Thompson made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. Thompson was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mateo Segura, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
Sartell-St. Stephen's victory bumped their record up to 2-0. As for St. Michael-Albertville, their loss dropped their record down to 11-3.
St. Michael-Albertville skirted past Sartell-St. Stephen 3-1 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Sabres have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
