Middle of Owatonna’s lineup has revitalized offense as regular season approaches final stretch

The less Owatonna baseball coach Tate Cummins spends tinkering with the middle of his lineup, the better.

With five games left in the regular season, it’s safe to say Cummins is feeling pretty good.

Collectively, the group finished 10-for-17 with five extra base hits and eight RBIs against the Rockets alone. Ahrens and Seykora each went deep while Seykora, Kretlow and Reinardy finished with one double apiece.

In back-to-back Big Nine Conference outings against Mankato East on May 4 and Rochester John Marshall on May 9, the No. 2 through No. 6 spots in the Huskies’ order have absolutely torched opposing pitchers. This fearsome fivesome includes: Ayden Walter, Mitch Seykora, Teagun Ahrens, Michael Reinardy and Drew Kretlow.

A week earlier at home against the Cougars, Ahrens crushed a 3-run shot in the sixth inning and highlighted another ultra-productive outing from the core included at least one hit from Walter, Seykora, Reinardy and Kretlow.

Unsurprisingly, the Huskies took both games — beating the Cougars 10-9 and taking down the Rockets 8-4 — and moved to 5-4 in conference action after temporarily slipping below .500 following a 4-game slide between April 27 and May 2.

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