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Two Holmen American Legion baseball pitchers took no-hitters to the late stages of games last week, including Levi Adamk taking a perfect game to the seventh inning in a 6-0 win in game one win of a doubleheader split with Mount Horeb Saturday.

Adank retired the first 19 hitters he faced in the opener, getting within two outs of his first no-hitter, let along perfect game. But Mount Horeb No. 2 hitter Bo Thompson squibbed a bleeder about 10 feet into the grass behind first base just inside the first-base line to end the threat.

“It was the definition of a bleeder, but it was a legimate hit,” Holmen head coach Duane Vike said. “Levi threw real well, but we also need to learn how to win the second game (6-3).”

The other near no-hitter came three days earlier in the Legion's 3-0 win over Sparta. Shane Peterson took a no-hitter to the sixth, when his one-out, 1-0 pitch to Jared Selbrede was lined to center, Holmen's Nick Salinas made a valiant diving effort to catch the ball, but it got by him for a double.

The game was still in doubt at that point, with the tying run at the plate with one out after Peterson's fifth of six walks, to Andrew Schanhofer. But Peterson got out of the inning on a line out to shortstop Trey Candahl and comebacker.

“He walked a few more and wasn't quite as dominant as Levi was Saturday, but we played well as a team behind him,” Vike said. “We got a couple of huge 6-4-3 double plays.”

The first came in a 1-0 game in the second, from Candahl to Adank to first baseman Jordan Vaaler. The same trio combined for a twin killing in the fourth.

Peterson finished with eight strikeouts to work around the free passes. He struck out the side in the third, as well as striking out the final two hitters of the game.

Holmen took advantage of four walks to score its first run, with Ross Jenks, Candahl, Ben Squier and Jarod Dayton walking to force in a run in the first. Jarrod Bock, Drew King, Jay Merfeld and Salinas walked in succession to force in the Legion's third run in the fifth. Holmen's lone hit was an Adank leadoff double to center in the third, before Adank was cut down trying to score on a ground ball.

The Legion faced their only AAA opponent of the season Tuesday, falling 8-4 to La Crosse at Copeland Park. Holmen led 1-0 in the first, 2-1 in the second and 4-3 in the third, but two 2-out hits in the third gave La Crosse the lead for good. The Legion committed two of its three errors in the scheduled nine-inning game in the sixth, which led to three unearned runs and the produced the final margin.

“You can't make errors against a team like that,” Vike said. “You can't give them four outs, let along five outs. We have a tendency to play just below our competition instead a little above of our competition.”

Holmen had five of its seven hits in the first three innings. Jay Merfeld's one-out single in the fourth and Bock's infield single in the ninth were the Legion's lone safeties in the final six innings. A two-out walk in the ninth did force La Crosse to go to University of Minnesota recruit Austin Lubinsky for the final out, with Lubinsky inducing a Jenks ground out to second.

Casey Schlagel took the loss, with the right-hander not allowing an earned run in his final three innings of work. Peterson pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts, while Bock pitched a scoreless eighth with one strikeout.

“He pitched well at Bangor (June 24) and we wanted to get him an inning tonight,” Vike said of Bock. “He pitched so well for us last season and he's starting to throw better. With him, Levi, Shane, Spencer Schaller and Casey, we're a much deeper pitching staff than we were this spring.”