Belle Plaine baseball coach Pat Schultz was interested to see what kind of start his veteran squad would get off to this season.

With 22 juniors and seniors, the Class 2A, No. 11-ranked Tigers opened with five consecutive victories. They defeated No. 2 Minnehaha Academy 9-7, No. 6 Fairmont 5-1 and main Minnesota River Conference rival Jordan 7-0 during that stretch.

Junior Brody Curtiss started on the mound for the Tigers against Minnehaha Academy and Fairmont. Three senior pitchers — Wes Sarsland, Mitch Stier and Jon Vinkemeier — combined to go 6-2 last season with an ERA below 2.40.

"Our pitching was big the first week with five different pitchers earning victories," Schultz said. "Our pitching depth will be a huge plus for us and should allow us to keep arms fresh and use matchups to our advantage."

Stier went 3-for-4 with four RBI and got the victory on the mound in a 7-2 victory over St. Peter. Junior Nathan Herman and senior Aiden Ladd each had six RBI on the week while senior Luke Narveson hit .429 with six runs scored and four stolen bases.

"We have been very balanced at the plate with a lot of guys stepping up," Schultz said.

Top performances

• Lakeville North junior Max McGlade shot a 3-under-par 68 to win the South Suburban Conference meet at Valleywood Golf Course. All 10 schools in the conference participated in the meet.

• Senior pitcher Austin Vandeweile led Lakeville South to its first baseball victory of the season, a 3-1 triumph over Eagan. Vandeweile, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, gave up three hits while striking out 10.

RON HAGGSTROM