Photo by Daniel Olson: Joey Crissinger steps on home plate, scoring one of ten runs Fairmont scored en route to a 10-0 six inning win over Worthington.

FAIRMONT – After a few innings of struggle, Fairmont pulled away Thursday as the Cardinals beat Worthington in six innings, 10-0.

Fairmont eked out into the lead in the second, as Joe Long hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to drive in Mason Bicknase. Unfortunately, a strikeout would strand the remaining two batters. After stranding a runner on third in the third, the Cardinals started their breakaway in the fourth.

Vincent Schulte and Preston Geerdes each drew walks to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt from Brayden Williamson advanced each of them, putting two runs in scoring position with only one out. Having driven in the first RBI, Joe Long sought fit to tack on two more, driving in Schulte and Geerdes on a liner single.

With the lineup having swung back around to the top, Merritt Pomerenke was able to get Joe Long home, thanks to Long stealing second base. A strikeout and fly-out ended the inning, but the Cards were far from over at 4-0.

In the fifth, Bicknase was walked and managed to snag second base. This time, Geerdes would get a pitch to hit, driving Bicknase home for his second run. In the clutch with two outs, Long hit a single to set Pomerenke up for another golden opportunity. He took it, slamming a single in to get Geerdes home and making it 6-0.

The cherry on top came in the sixth. Joey Crissinger crushed one that bounced off the right-center wall for a double. Able to steal third on a wild pitch, Crissinger was easily sent home on a single by Joseph Hackett. Bicknase smashed a double, but unfortunately, Hackett was picked out at third.

With one out, Nolyn Goerndt and Isaac Stone were both walked to make the bases loaded. Brayden Williamson then all but sealed the deal with a double of his own to score Bicknase and Goerndt. Ultimately, Long would again make his mark by slapping a single in, scoring Stone, and securing the 10-0 win.

All game long, the pitching and defense were able to secure the lead and keep Worthington at bay. Noah Heckman got several line-outs to his infield while also throwing three strikeouts in five innings. Mac Larson shut things down in the sixth, adding two strikeouts of his own.

Looking over his team’s performance, Head Coach Don Waletich said it was an overall team effort today.

“We got some guys contributing that haven’t been hitting lately, but they were hitting today a little bit. Joe Long and Brayden Williamson hit the ball well today, and Noah Heckman and Mac Larson came in and pitched very well today, and that’s exactly what we were hoping for our last game going into the playoffs.”

With this pivotal time now ahead of them, Waletich said they are going to take it one practice and one game at a time.

“Just getting better every day of practice,” he said. “We don’t look far ahead at all. We just want to show up tomorrow to practice and have another clean, crisp practice. We’re just trying to be as prepared as we can.”

The Cardinals (17-4) are the first seed on their side of the 3AA bracket, so they get a bye out of the first round and will face the winner of St. James versus Redwood Valley Thursday, May 28, at 5 p.m. on Herb Wolf Field.