A premier pitching duel was decided by a wild pitch in the top of the seventh inning as Burnsville advanced to the top of the South Suburban Conference standings following a 3-2 win over Prior Lake at Memorial Park Friday night.
The Blaze’s Sam Carlson, a Florida commit, battled Kentucky-bound Nick Hanson of the Lakers through six innings, where both pitchers’ arms carved through the others’ lineups, tallying 19 strikeouts between the two of them.
Senior Noah Robb drilled a leadoff single in the final frame and with some aggressive baserunning -- and a little fortune -- Robb stole home base after a wild pitch from Prior Lake closer, Lucas Pumper, for the game-winning run.
“I was thinking score. Then I saw (the ball) go all the way to the backstop and I knew we were winning the game after that,” Robb said.
Ranked No. 6 in Class 4A by Let’s Play Baseball, the Lakers still had three more chances to level the score and was coming off a two-run inning in the bottom of the sixth.
But Eric Otto relieved Carlson on the mound and struck out three batters to clinch the game for the No. 15-4A Blaze (7-1, 6-1). Otto threw a variety of changeups and curveballs to keep Prior Lake (5-2, 5-2) off balance after facing near-90 mph fastballs from Carlson.
“It’s good throwing after Sam (Carlson). He makes all my pitches look like changeups,” Otto said.
“It was a huge situation against a great team and (Otto) had a lot of guts to throw the pitches he did, but he got (the strikeouts) and I was really proud of him,” Carlson said.
Outside of the two schools being league and Class 4A, Section 3 rivals, these matchups have proven to be the most memorable over the years because of the familiarity of the two Dakota County schools.
“This is kind of our own little World Series,” Carlson said. “I live in Savage, five minutes from (Memorial Field), but go to Burnsville High School so I know all these (Prior Lake) guys, and it’s turned into a great rivalry we get to see.”
Both schools have athletes that reside in Savage, where students have a choice of attending either high school, but that means playing youth sports with each other along the way.
“We know Prior Lake really well,” Otto said. “We love playing against them, so we have a good scouting report on them.”
The South Suburban has proven its worth on the diamond by boasting strong pitching staffs in recent years; a trend that continues to fuel close battles for league supremacy.
With Friday's win, the Blaze moved into a tie for first place atop the conference standings with Eastview, and have now won four straight games against the Lakers by a single run
Otto doesn’t know what it is that’s kept Burnsville so dominant against Prior Lake, other than playing through the nerves.
“I can tell you we always like to have fun and always stay loose and, it just seems to go our way."
Eric Otto pitched one inning for Burnsville, earning the win. Photo by Cheryl Myers.
First Report
Senior Noah Robb scored the game-winning run off a wild pitch in the top of the seventh inning to give Burnsville a 3-2 road victory over Prior Lake Friday evening at Memorial Park.
Ranked No. 15 in Class 4A by Let’s Play Baseball, the Blaze (7-1, 6-1) are now tied with Eastview atop the South Suburban Conference standings.
Robb also singled to center field to drive in Mike Schiller for the first run of the game in the top of the fifth. The outfielder was 2-for-4 and stole two bases.
Florida commit Sam Carlson started on the mound for Burnsville, while Kentucky commit Nick Hanson opened the game for the No. 6-4A Lakers.
Carlson gave up two runs on three hits and struck out seven batters in six innings, giving way to Eric Otto, who struck out the side to end the game.
Hanson pitched six innings for Prior Lake (5-2, 5-2), giving up two runs, five hits and striking out 12.
