After coming up one run short against Griswold in the regular season just under a month ago, St. Albert looked like a team that had been chomping at the bit for a re-match Tuesday night at Chuck Wolever Field.

 

The Falcons dominated every facet of the game, with starter Doug Moran striking out 13 in six innings and leadoff batter Shay Bales providing the offensive spark en route to a 10-1 win over Griswold in the opening round of Class 2A district baseball action.

St. Albert kept its season alive with the win, advancing to host Riverside tonight in the district semifinals.

"I was pleased with every aspect of the game tonight," Falcon coach Ken Schreiber said. "We came out aggressive, our pitchers threw fantastic and the whole team played with enthusiasm."

Moran was nearly untouchable to set the tone from the mound. In six innings, he scattered four hits and recorded 13 of his 18 outs via the strikeout, keeping the Tigers guessing by mixing up his fastball and off-speed pitches.

"The Moran kid threw real well," said Griswold coach Chad Rodgers. "His breaking ball was excellent, and he kept us off off-balance."

"I was just feeling good tonight. Whenever my arm's feeling good, I'm confident," Moran said. "And we got the early lead ... that was big there."

Bales was hit by the first pitch of the game, and the Falcons went on to load up the bases. Jace Cochran was hit by another pitch to bring Bales home, and courtesy runner Josh Madsen and Pat Fetter both crossed home plate later to give St. Albert a quick three-spot.

Bales reached base all five times he stepped up to the plate, scoring three runs and launching a two-out, two-run homer to right-center in the fifth inning to put the Falcons up 8-0.

"He hung the curveball, and it was outside so I had to reach for it," Bales said of the home run pitch. "I wasn't even thinking home run, I was just trying to get on base."

With the Falcons cruising, Griswold struggled to get anything going offensively. The Tigers' lone run came in the fifth, when Brad Sindt singled and came home on a wild pitch.

Richie Moore took the mound in the seventh in relief and picked up where Moran left off, striking out the side.

The Falcons are back in action tonight against Riverside, a team they 10-runned earlier in the season.

The Bulldogs were 11-6 winners over Malvern/Nishna Valley Wednesday.

St. Albert 310 130 2 - 10 6 1

Griswold 000 010 0 - 1 4 6

Doug Moran, Richie Moore (7) and Cale Yates. Brad Mortensen and Tyler Mosier. W-Moran, L-Mortensen. HR-SA: Shay Bales.

Records: St. Albert (14-19), Griswold (7-16).