Woodbury baseball: Royals start off on right foot, beat Rosemount 3-1

The 2011-12 season started off with a win for the Royals.

Woodbury topped Rosemount 3-1 in the nonconference road game, which begins a season where the Royals are looking to improve on last year’s 4-16 record.

“I like what I saw,” Woodbury coach Jason McDermott said of the win.

Woodbury jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Junior second baseman Quinten Strub drew a leadoff walk. He moved to third after a double by senior catcher Chris Hofacker.

Senior shortstop Ryan Fritze drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly that scored Strub. Junior outfielder Ryan Winter drove in Hofacker on a two-out single.

Woodbury scored its third run in the seventh inning. Senior third baseman Steve Fingleton led off the inning and was beaned. A Jacob Roerick hit moved Fingleton to second.

Fingleton scored after junior second baseman Ryan Scanlon – in his first at-bat of the year – ripped a two-strike pitch to left field.

Junior pitcher Brandon Mazur earned the complete-game win. He allowed one run, four hits and struck out two.

“He was pounding the (strike) zone,” McDermott said of Mazur’s performance.

The coach said his players – who got a tune-up with scrimmages in Florida – have been showing improvement in two areas where the team struggled last year: defense and clutch hitting.

“We played really solid defense,” he said, remarking on the Rosemount game.

The Royals take the field today in a road game against Forest Lake. Woodbury plays intra-district rival Park on Monday, April 16.

Results from Monday’s game between the Royals and Cretin-Derham Hall were not immediately available.

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