Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Vincent Schultz celebrates with his team after hitting a two-run home run during the first game of Friday afternoon's doubleheader against Pipestone Area at Herb Wolf Field. The Cardinals are now 11-4 on the season after completing the sweep.

FAIRMONT – It was total domination from Fairmont baseball after the first pitch of Friday afternoon’s doubleheader matchup versus Pipestone Area at Herb Wolf Field. Fairmont handled the Arrows in both contests by playing sound baseball in every facet of the game, winning 11-1 and 17-2 to push its record to 11-4 on the spring. The Cardinals have won six of their past seven contests, with the lone defeat coming against Tri-City United on Monday.

“Two very good games today,” Fairmont head coach Don Waletich said. “The guy responded with very quality at-bats, played really good defense and put together two really nice games, which is a lot of fun.”

Game one

The story of game one came from the Cardinals’ offense, specifically in the second inning. Fairmont went through the lineup with authority on every trip to the plate while taking advantage of some erratic pitching from the Pipestone Area staff.

The frame started a pair of walks from Mason Bicknase and Joe Long to help load up the bases for the top of the order. Merritt Pomerenke picked up the first RBI hit of the afternoon with his shot up the middle.

Following two more walks from Jensen Livesay and Joey Crissinger, Joseph Hackett and Nolyn Goerndt did damage with their swings following a single and a double to clear off the bases and put Fairmont up 7-0. Vincent Schultz added one more run on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop and put an exclamation point on the crooked number.

Bicknase got the start for Fairmont on the mound and did everything he could to keep the Arrows’ offense at bay. He finished his day with four shutout innings and allowed just one hit and two walks.

“Mason [Bicknase] did very well for us in that first game,” Waletich said.

Fairmont put the mercy rule into effect during the fourth inning. After Goerndt reached base via walk, Schultz put a charge into the ball that soared well over the left field fence and gave the Cardinals an 11-0 advantage.

Pipestone Area tacked their lone score of the game in the top half of the fifth. A walk from Caden Burns and back-to-back singles by Luka Quist and Nicholas Bruns were the only blemishes on Fairmont relief pitcher Preston Geerdes. The Cardinals picked up the final two outs on a slick double play between Hackett and Brayden Williamson.

Game two

Fairmont’s offense in game two was more of a methodical machine. The Cardinals plated at least two runs in each inning, with their seven-run fifth being the driving force behind the eventual mercy rule.

The Cardinals scored the first three runs in the top of the first with a handful of crafty at-bats. Hackett got his team on the board after his fly ball seeped through the outfield for an early Arrows error. Goerndt and Schultz did their part in bringing in the final two runs via sacrifice fly. Fairmont’s ability to score runs in different ways was impressive all afternoon.

“It was just quality at-bats,” Waletich said. “We got some barrels on things, moved runners over, and stole some bases. We never chased out of the zone today and just put the ball in play. If you do that, good things will happen.”

Fairmont tacked on five more runs in the second and third innings. Crissinger had an RBI double and single, while Hackett ripped a ball up the middle to score Livesay. The Cardinals had seven hits going into the fourth inning.

Long started the second contest for Fairmont and was pretty consistent with his pitching arsenal from the beginning. He ran into trouble during the third frame after allowing walks to Zach Amen and Trey Boelman with nobody out. Luka Quist delivered with an RBI single on the next at-bat, while Boelman scampered home on a passed ball to make the score 8-2. It was another defensive play that got the Cardinals out of the inning after Mac Larson orchestrated another double play up the middle.

Long ended his performance with four innings of work. He allowed a pair of hits, with both runs allowed charged against him.

Fairmont got both runs back in the fourth inning. Long pushed Schultz across home plate with an RBI single up the middle, before scoring himself on a passed ball behind the Arrows’ defense.

Schultz, Larson, Isaac Stone, Long, Geerdes and Gavin Schomberg each picked up an RBI in the fifth frame to work through the entire batting order.

Williamson came in for relief for the fifth frame and collected the final three outs of the afternoon.

Fairmont will play another doubleheader on Saturday morning against Redwood Valley at Memorial Field. The first pitch of the day will start at 12:00 p.m.