Ruzicka tosses no-hitter

Cort Ruzicka bagged a no-hitter in four and a half innings as the LRS Broncos won both of their games Saturday during a non-league outing against St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse-Washtucna.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Ruzicka banked nine strikeouts and gave up just two walks as the Broncos rolled to a 12-0 win.

“It was a good day for Cort,” head coach Jason Aldrich said. “He was pumping them right in there and only pitched from the stretch twice.”

In the early game Tyler Frederick dominated the mound as the Broncos won 12-3 behind his pitching effort. Frederick recorded eight strikeouts in five innings, giving up one walk, one hit and two hit batters.

“We played pretty complete. Our pitchers threw really well. They were really pretty efficient,” Aldrich said.

In the first game the Broncos scored 12 runs on six hits. Ruzicka smacked a triple for an RBI and Frederick delivered an RBI double. Bridger Smith, Dylan Hartz, Matt Leffel and Eric Shanaman each had singles. The team also scored on wild pitches and balks. They crossed the plate three times on SJELW balks.

During the second game the Broncos collected seven hits.

Johnny Hernandez went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. Leffel was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Ruzicka cranked a double for an RBI. Smith and Shanaman each drove in a run with clutch singles.

Shanaman also picked up praise for his work in the outfield.

“Eric made a nice running catch. He ran down a long fly ball in left field,” Aldrich said. “We were pleased as punch. We’re pretty pleased with his progress.”

The Broncos, who started the season with 12 on the roster, played the games with just nine players.

Aldrich said the roster will grow in the coming weeks and junior Connor O’Neill and freshman Jacob Saetre joined the team late and are still collecting required practice days.

“We did commit some errors and we struck out too much,” he said. “We ran the bases well for it being early in the season. With nine guys, you don’t have any options. I was pretty pleased for the first games.”