GOWRIE — The St. Edmond baseball team had to fight through adversity for the first time on the young season here Tuesday.

They did so without flinching.

The Gaels erased an early four-run deficit and then some, plating 12 of the game’s final 13 runs in a 12-5 road victory over Southeast Valley.

Senior JT Laufersweiler had three hits and drove in three for St. Edmond (3-0 overall). Laufersweiler also scored three times, doubled and stole a base, while working with classmate Hayden Derrig for the win on the mound.

“We had to battle back,” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “Hayden settled down after a rough first inning, and JT had a big night. I think the big thing for us is seeing if we have other pitchers who can throw strikes and get the job done after (Derrig, who had fired two complete games with 31 strikeouts combined to start the season). JT took a big step in that department (Tuesday).”

Laufersweiler walked two and struck out five in 3ª innings of relief. Derrig had given up four runs — on only one hit — through the first 3• frames. He had Kd seven, but walked six.

The Gaels drew 10 free passes themselves and stole seven bases. Grant Galles was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Jack McElroy crossed the plate three times, and Kinnick Henning scored twice with a pair of steals.

“We’re still a work in progress in a lot of areas,” Szalat said. “We’ve played pretty steady defense so far, which is encouraging. I think facing live hitting and live pitching is still an area of adjustment, but that’s normal in May.

“We’ll never take a road win for granted.”

St. Edmond plated three runs in the third, three more in the fourth, two in the sixth and tacked on four insurance runs in the seventh to pull away.

Kaden Holder was 2-for-2 with an RBI for Southeast Valley (0-2). Gauge Jones drove in the other run. Casey Hanson doubled and scored for the Jags.

The Gaels are at Webster City tonight for a 7:30 p.m. varsity first pitch. Southeast Valley is at Sioux Central.

ST. EDMOND 12,

SE VALLEY 5

SE 003 302 4 — 12 7 3

SE Valley 400 001 0 — 5 4 4

WP–Hayden Derrig (3-0; 3.1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 7 K); LP–Hane Sorenson. S–JT Laufersweiler (3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). 2B–SE: JT Laufersweiler; SV: Casey Hanson. SB–SE: Kinnick Henning 2, Koleman Hanson 2, Hayden Derrig, JT Laufersweiler, Grant Galles; SV: Hane Sorenson.