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The Dogs used an eight-run fourth inning to beat Holdingford. Trailing 5-2, the Dogs loaded the bases for junior Jamie Paul, who cleared them with a double. Paul scored on an error. Senior Justin Butkofski hit an RBI single, senior Chris Beier hit an RBI triple, junior John Hemingson hit an RBI single, and he scored on another error.

Junior Derek Stanger tags out a Cathedral baserrunner on Tuesday, April 19, but the Dogs fell to the Crusaders, ranked #1 in Class AA, 4-0 as Cathedral's pitcher threw a one-hitter.

Leading 10-5, the Dogs added three runs in the fifth inning as junior Trent Hansen singled and scored on a double by Butkofski, who scored on a single by senior Mike Mueller, who scored on a single by Beier.

Butkofski had started the scoring for the Dogs with a solo homer in the first inning. The Dogs added another run in the first on two Husker errors.

Paul pitched a complete game for the pitching victory for the Dogs.

In the final against Big Lake, Butkofski hit a two-run homer for the Dogs in the first inning, giving Paynesville a 2-0 lead. But the Dogs managed only four hits against Big Lake and did not score again.

Big Lake scored all eight of their runs in the fourth inning. They got a two-run homer to tie the score at 2-2, then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, and had seven straight hitters reach base with two outs as they took an 8-2 lead.

Senior Justin Butkofski had five hits at the Big Lake Tourney on Saturday and homreed in the first inning of both games for the Dogs.

The Dogs are now 5-3 this season, including 1-1 in the WCC North.

This week, the Dogs played at Melrose on Tuesday. They will host LPGE on Thursday and will host Howard Lake-Waverly on Friday. Next week, they will play at Sauk Centre on Tuesday, May 3.

Holdingford--	221	001	0	- 6	9	5
Paynesville--	200	830	x	- 13	13	2

Paynesville - Batting: Chris Beier 3-4 3B RBI-2; Justin Butkofski 3-4 2B HR R-3 RBI-3; John Hemingson 2-4 RBI SB; Jamie Paul 1-4 2B RBI-3 R; Trent Hansen 1-4 R-2; Mike Mueller 1-4 R-2 RBI; Derek Stanger 1-3 R SB; Brandon Berg 1-3 R; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Paul (W) (7-9-6-4-3-5).

Paynesville--	200	000	0	- 2	4	2
Big Lake--	000	800	x	- 8	8	2

Paynesville - Batting: Butkofski 2-3 HR RBI-2; Derek Looman 1-2; Beier 1-3; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Stanger (L) (3.2-6-6-6-1-0); Ryan Hess (0.2-2-2-1-2-0); Ben Moser (0.2-0-0-0-0-0); Hemingson (1-0-0-0-0-2).

Paynesville 5, NL-S 3
The Bulldogs rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth and beat New London-Spicer 5-3 in a nonconference game on Thursday.

Trailing 3-2, the Dogs scored three runs in a two-out rally in the fifth inning. Junior Trent Hansen started the rally by beating out an infield single with two outs.

Senior Justin Butkofski followed with a double to right-center to tie the game 3-3. Butkofski was caught in a hot box between second and third but was awarded third base due to interference.

Senior Mike Mueller followed with a double to left-center to give the Dogs a 4-3 lead, and junior John Hemingson tripled over the rightfielder's head to plate the Dogs' final run in the rally.

NL-S had taken a 3-2 lead with two runs on four hits in the bottom of the third. Since the Wildcats are a good fastball hitting team, Butkofski used a good mix of off-speed pitches, said coach Brad Skoglund. The Dogs also moved their outfielders in after the third inning - at the suggestion of assistant coach Dick Realdsen - to avoid yielding any bloop hits. That strategy worked, said Skoglund, as Butkofski gave up only one hit after the third inning.

After the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, the Dogs tied the game at 1-1 with three straight hits in the top of the second by junior Derek Stanger, junior Ryan Hess, and senior Brandon Berg. Junior Jamie Paul walked in the third inning, stole second and third, and scored on a ground out to give the Dogs a brief 2-1 lead.

Paynesville--	011	030	0	- 5	9	2
NL-S--	102	000	0	- 3	6	1

Paynesville - Batting: Justin Butkofski 2-4 2B RBI R; Jamie Paul 1-3 R SB-3; John Hemingson 1-3 3B RBI; Brandon Berg 1-3 RBI; Derek Stanger 1-3 R; Mike Mueller 1-4 2B R RBI; Trent Hansen 1-4 R RBI; Ryan Hess 1-3; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Butkofski (W) (7-6-3-2-2-6).

Cathedral 4, Paynesville 0
St. Cloud Cathedral, ranked #1 in the state in Class AA, defeated the Bulldogs 4-0 behind Pete Burg's one-hit shutout on Tuesday, April 19.

Burg, a senior southpaw, allowed only one infield hit to the host Dogs and walked only two. All three baserunners reached second base for Paynesville but no one reached third in the conference game.

Skoglund said the Crusaders showed that they are rated #1 in Class AA for a reason, with Burg giving a dominant performance. "They always say good pitching stops good hitting, and it's true," said Skoglund, who noted that Burg changed speeds well, even on his fastball, and threw off-speed pitches for strikes. "We hadn't been dominated like that (by a pitcher) in a while."

Cathedral scored three runs in the top of the third, with an error by the Bulldogs proving costly. By botching a bunt attempt, the Dogs allowed Cathedral to put runners on the corner with one out (instead of a runner on with two outs). With the infield in to try to make a play at the plate, Cathedral got a bloop hit over first base to score their first run. The next Cathedral batter hit a two-run double.

Had the Dogs' infield been playing back, Skoglund said, they could have caught the blooper and been out of the inning.

The Dogs did use some good defense to get out of the third. First, junior shortstop Jamie Paul fielded a grounder and threw out the lead runner at third for the second out. Then, senior pitcher Chris Beier picked off a runner at first base to end the inning.

Paul had the Dogs' only hit, a grounder deep into the hole at shortstop, in the bottom of the third.

Despite losing, Skoglund was pleased that Beier pitched well, that the defense (except for one costly mistake) played well, and the Dogs showed they could compete with the best in the state. "It's nice to know that if they're the top team in the state, we're right there with them," explained Skoglund.

Cathedral--	003	100	0	- 4	6	0
Paynesville--	000	000	0	- 0	1	2

Cathedral - Batting: Mike Schmidt 2-3 2B RBI-2; Dan Mueller 2-4 2B R RBI; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Pete Burg (W) (7-1-0-0-2-8).

Paynesville - Batting: Jamie Paul 1-3; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Chris Beier (L) (6-6-4-3-2-4); Ryan Hess (1-0-0-0-0-0).

Paynesville 16, Benson 0
The Bulldogs used a 15-hit attack and an eight-run third inning to defeat the Benson Braves 16-0 in five innings in a nonconference game on Monday, April 18.

The Dogs already led 5-0 after scoring five runs in the top of the first inning and sent 13 batters to the plate in the third inning, scoring eight runs to take a 13-0 lead. After scoring three runs on a bases-loaded walk, a wild pitch, and a bases-loaded hit batter, senior Mike Mueller had a two-run double to left-center, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI single by senior Mitch Callenius.

Senior Justin Butkofski hit a three-run homer to left in the first inning, as the Dogs took a 3-0 lead before making an out. Callenius also had an RBI single in the first inning.

Senior Chris Beier had an RBI single in the fourth inning for the Dogs. Junior Ryan Hess led off the fifth inning with a pinch-hit homer, his first varsity homerun. And the Dogs got their 13th run later in the fifth inning.

Junior Jamie Paul pitched five shutout innings for the victory on the hill, allowing only three hits while striking out eight.

Paynesville--	508	12x	x	- 16	15	2
Benson--	000	00x	x	- 0	3	2

Paynesville - Batting: Mike Mueller 3- 2B R-2 RBI-2; Brandon Berg 2-2 R RBI; Mitch Callenius 2-3 R-2 RBI-2; Jamie Paul 2-4 2B R-2 RBI; Chris Beier 2-4 R SB; Ryan Hess 1-1 HR; Derek Looman 1-1 R-3 RBI SB; Justin Butkofski 1-3 HR R-2 RBI-4; John Hemingson 1-3 RBI; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Paul (W) (5-3-0-0-1-8).