05/03/2026
Week 3 recap: The Royals went 2-2 against some good competition.
Tuesday vs Rockford: The Royals spotted the Rockets a five run lead, before Ryan Swenson lined a single to left in the bottom of the 2nd to make it 5-2. The Rockets answered with two runs in the 4th and it was 7-2. In the bottom half, Kirk Yourczek singled to score Ryan Swenson. After a walk to Keaton Nelson, Sean Schmidtbauer doubled to score Yourczek. Jaden Albright followed with a single to score Nelson and Schmidtbauer and it was now 7-6. Trailing 9-7 in the 6th, the Royals scored four times. Keaton Nelson led off with a double, but had to leave the game with an injury. Schmidtbauer walked, Jaden Albright then grounded a ball to short and the throw to 2nd skipped into the outfield, allowing Dom Marschel to score. A bunt by Jake Albright moved both runners up, Reagan Elliott reached on an error to load the bases. Matt Quinlan was hit by a pitch to force in a run and make it 9-9. The Royals took a 10-9 lead on an error on an errant throw by the Rockets catcher attempting to turn a double play. The Rockets plated two in the top of the 7th to take an 11-10 lead. The Royals tied the game on a Jaden Albright single to score Marschel, sending the game into extra innings. Both teams had their opportunities to score several times, and in the bottom of the 10th, Matt Quninlan singled with one out, Ryan Swenson followed with a double to put men on 2nd and 3rd, Colton Burggraff was then intentionally walked. Kirk Yourczek stepped up and hit a fly ball to Right and Quinlan raced home to score the winning run! Trace Ratke came on in relief to secure his first Varsity win, going 6 innings and striking out 4. Jaden Albright was 4-6 with 3RBI’s to lead the Royals. Keaton Nelson, Sean Schmidtbauer and Colton Burggraff each added two.
Wednesday vs Holdingford: The Royals started things off well, scoring three times in the bottom of the 1st. Reagan Elliott singled. Back-to-back errors gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. Jaden Albright singled and Dom Marschel was hit by a pitch to force in a run to make it 3-0. Holdingford scored three in the 3rd, six in the 4th and two in the 5th to make it 11-3. In the 6th, Dom Marschel recorded his first varsity hit to score two runs and Ryan Swenson followed with an RBI and it was now 11-6. The Huskers scored two in the 7th to make the final 13-6. Reagan Elliott was 4-4 with a run scored to lead the Royals. Dom Marschel was credited with 3RBI’s.
Thursday vs Paynesville, Game 1: Matt Quninlan took the mound in his 1st varsity start. The Bulldogs got a run in the 1st on a home run to left. This stood up until the 4th, when the Bulldogs scored five to take a 6-0 lead. The Bulldogs added a run in the 7th to make it a 7-0 final. Quinlan went 6.1IP allowing 2ER and striking out 8. Jaden Albright had two hits for the Royals. Kirk Yourczek, Jake Albright and Ryan Swenson added one.
Game 2: The Royals got two in the top of the 1st, Reagan Elliott singled to lead things off, Kirk Yourczek doubled and back-to-back singles by Jaden and Jake Albright made it 2-0. Paynesville answered with two runs in the bottom half. In the 2nd, with 2-out and two on, Sean Schmidtbauer (on his 18th birthday) launched a Home Run to Left to give the Royals a 5-2 lead! Kane Neisen dug in and kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard. He gave way to Jaden Albright in the 6th, who recorded the last five outs to get the save! Neisen earned the win, going 5.1IP with 1K. Reagan Elliott was 2-3 with two runs scored, Schmidtbauer was 1-3 with 3RBI and Kirk Yourczek was 1-2 with a run scored.
Our JV went 2-1-1 on the week, beating Rockford, tying with Holdingford and splitting with Paynesville. This coming week is another good test for us. We host Pierz on Monday, Kimball on Tuesday for Senior Day, and ending with a doubleheader with BBE on Thursday at the MAC in St. Cloud, starting at 4:30pm. Go Royals!
