Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond senior John Nemmers had two home runs and drove in seven against Bishop Garrigan on Saturday night, but it wasn’t enough as the Golden Bears rallied and prevailed by a final of 8-7 in a Class 1A district baseball opener.

ALGONA — The underdog St. Edmond baseball team gave Bishop Garrigan everything it could handle and more here on Saturday night.

In the end, the Golden Bears were able to put together a rally and erase a six-run deficit, advancing in a Class 1A district game, 8-7.

Bishop Garrigan (23-6 overall) now meets West Hancock (5-16) back here on Wednesday in a second round game. The Eagles upset Harris-Lake Park in the first game, 3-0.

John Nemmers, one of four seniors on the roster for head coach Mike Szalat and the Gaels (3-18 overall), hit two home runs and drove in seven on the night. He was also intentionally walked once.

Joe Touney, also a senior, and underclassmen Grant Galles, Kinnick Henning and Leo Ehn all drew two walks. Galles scored twice while Hayden Derrig, JT Laufersweiler and Ehn each scored once.

“What a way for a kid like John to go out,” Szalat said. “Honestly, and I told the team this after the game, I could not be more proud of those four seniors (Nemmers, Touney, Tyler McDowell and Johnny Dickerson). They are incredible kids who are going to be wonderful men. We have been so blessed with them these last four years.”

In the regular season finale last week, the Golden Bears scored a 22-4 victory over St. Edmond. Things were much different this time around, though, as Nemmers put his team up 3-0 with a blast in the first inning that scored Laufersweiler and Galles, who had both walked.

“We’ve really grown up over the last week as a team,” Szalat said. “The bottom of our lineup has become more consistent and we just have been hitting the ball much better. We had a few chances (Saturday) to get more runs, but we just couldn’t quite put it together.

“This group showed me a lot, though. They came here ready to win a baseball game and they competed as hard as they could against a very good team.”

Nemmers connected on his grand slam — and his third home run of the season — in the fourth to make it 7-1. From there, though, it was all Bishop Garrigan, as they scored one in the fourth, one in the fifth, three in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Justin Bauer, Garrett Heying and Benjy Trainer all had two hits, with freshman Carter Schwab and junior Drew Lappe driving in the tying and winning runs. Bauer scored three times and had an RBI, Heying had two RBI and Nathan Merron, the winner in relief, drove in a run.

Merron came on for Drew Fogarty, pitching the final four innings. The two aces combined for 10 walks on the night.

“We showed a lot of patience at the plate, working the count and getting on,” Szalat said. “Hayden and Tyler both really battled on the mound against a tough lineup. We made some mistakes, but we had guys also come right back and make big plays.

“Kinnick had a huge run-saving play and Ethan (Swisher) stepped up at third.”

Nemmers became the first Gael with multiple home runs in a season since Hank Crimmins and David Flattery each hit two in 2012. The last to hit three was Tommy Setterdahl, who did so in 2011.

Garrigan has won 14 of the last 15 meetings with Top of the Iowa Conference rival West Hancock, including twice earlier this year by scores of 16-1 and 13-1.

The top of the District 2 bracket will see Newell-Fonda (21-5) host North Iowa (6-16), while District 1 games include Kingsley-Pierson (24-2) vs. George-Little Rock (3-18) and North Union (11-11) vs. MMCRU (10-12). The substrate final is set for July 11.