Lenarz, Goossen among leaders for Braves baseball

The Benson baseball team ended the 2016 season with a 5-15 overall record, which included a 2-12 mark within the WCC to finish tied with Montevideo for seventh place.  Melrose Area and Minnewaska Area tied for the league title this year with 11-3 records, followed closely by Sauk Centre at 10-4, Morris Area-CA at 8-5, BOLD at 7-6, and Atwater-CGC at 4-10.
The Braves ended the season with a 2-1, 8-inning loss to New London-Spicer in the first round of the Section 3AA Tourney at Paynesville, 2-1.  NLS lost the next round to top-seeded Paynesville, but has since won four-straight games to earn a return matchup with the Bulldogs for the section title.
Benson started the season out with an 8-4 victory over RCW, but then lost its next four games.  The Braves turned things around with a 20-2 win over Hancock followed three days later by an 11-1 victory over Lakeview to improve to 3-4 overall, but
Benson went on to win only two of its final 13 games -- a pair of 1-0 decisions over BOLD and Montevideo.
Seniors lost to graduation from this year’s team, coached by Adam Foslien, are Adam Lindahl, Connor Staton, Andrew Lindahl, and Max McDonald.  
Pictured: Dan Lenarz looks for the signal from the catcher as Adam Lindahl fakes a pickoff attempt in the background.  Lenarz was the top pitcher for the Braves this season, while Lindahl was the second-leading batter.
 
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