Top-ranked Chickasaws understand meaning of sacrifice

   Carter Stochl — or for that matter, any of his New Hampton baseball teammates — doesn’t need a dictionary to define the word sacrifice.   Instead, they personify the meaning of sacrifice — “the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim,” according to dictionary.com — every time they take the diamond.   Stochl, for example, surrendered a playoff no-hitter Tuesday night and settled for a combined no-hitter with teammate Keegan Tenge as the Chickasaws rolled to an 8-0 win over Hampton-Dumont in a Class 2A district semifinal game.   Hey, it’s not very often New Hampton coach Cory McDonald pulls a pitcher who has 14 strikeouts and hasn’t allowed a hit through six innings.   But with Stochl’s pitch count at 87, he got the hook so that he can, if needed, pitch Saturday in the district title game against South Winneshiek, an 8-2 winner over Central Springs Tuesday.   “I didn’t have a problem with that at all,” the senior said after improving his record to 9-0 and lowering his earned-run average to 0.53. “You got to look at the big picture and I totally get what Mac’s thinking.”   Then again, Tuesday night’s win personified the 2017 Chickasaws and their willingness to give themselves up for their team that is now 31-2.
   More on the story may be found in the July 14 Tribune. The Chickasaws will play in the district final game on Saturday, July 15 at 7 p.m. against South Winn in a game to be played at home.