/usr/web/www.marshallindependent.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/single.php
×

AMATEUR BASEBALL: Minneota takes first place in home tournament

Photo by Sam Thiel Minneota’s Adam Durfee crosses home plate after hitting a three-run homer during their game against Ruthton Saturday. The Mudhens took first place in their home tournament.

MINNEOTA – Guided by a big offensive output and strong pitching, the Minneota amateur baseball team took first place in their home tournament Saturday afternoon.

The Mudhens kicked off the four-team tournament with an opening matchup against Ruthton.

The Royals got things going in the top of the first, scoring three runs to take an early 3-0 lead.

Minneota cut it to 3-1 in the bottom half of the inning when Adam Durfee reached on an error and later came around to score on an RBI single by Danny Hennen.

The Royals got another run in the top of the second when Dain LaRock hit a single and Eric Wiering smacked a double before Mic Holinka reached on an error to make it 4-1.

The next two innings would go scoreless before Minneota cut its deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth. After Hennen got a single, Austin Buysse was hit by a pitch and Henry Pesch got another single to load the bases. Preston Nuy then stepped up and connected on an RBI single before Brock Buysse got an RBI sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Mudhens broke out the bats, scoring 10 runs to take the lead for good. After back-to-back singles by Beau Buysse and Jordan Beck led off the inning, Durfee stepped up and smacked a three-run blast to center field to give Minneota the lead at 6-4. Hennen then got another single to go through the infield before coming around on an Austin Buysse single.

Ryan Koopman got a two-run double later in the inning to make it 9-4 before Minneota got another run on a sacrifice fly. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Beck and Durfee put it to 12-4 before Hennen got another RBI single to make it 13-4.

Durfee led the way for the Mudhens with a pair of hits and four RBIs while Hennen also had a couple of hits and a pair of RBIs. Hennen earned the win on the hill for Minneota, going all seven innings while allowing four runs while striking out six.

Levi Hurst took the loss for Ruthton on the hill. Eric Wiering led the way for the Royals with a 3 for 3 day at the plate with an RBI.

Game Two

Searles 13, Tracy 2

The second game of the day featured the Searles Grizzlies and the Tracy Express. Searles got things started with runs in the top of the first and second innings to take an early 2-0 lead.

The Grizzlies then scored three more runs in the top of the third to make it 5-0, but the Express got a pair of runs back in the bottom half of the frame thanks to an RBI sac fly by Cory Apperson and a bases-loaded walk by Jeremy Hofflock to make it 5-2.

But the Grizzlies responded with a pair of multiple-run innings of their own, scoring four in the fourth and five in the fifth to earn a 13-2 win in five innings.

Mason Campion took the loss on the hill for Tracy, going 2.2 innings while allowing nine hits and seven runs.

Game Three

Ruthton 5, Tracy 1

Tracy and Ruthton then squared off in the third-place game. The first few innings were highlighted by a pitcher’s duel, with neither team getting a run across. Tracy started the scoring off in the top of the fourth, with Apperson lacing a triple before Andy Nelson got an RBI single to make it 1-0 in favor of the Express.

The Royals answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning when Tylan Gylling drew a walk and Ryan Fischer got a single before an RBI single tied the game at 1-1.

An inning later, Ruthton used a two-out rally to take the lead for good. After LaRock got things started by reaching on an error and advancing to second on the errant throw. He would then steal third, before Walker Kor drew a free pass to first base and Holinka reached on an error to load the bases. Chris Dougherty then stepped up and smacked a liner over the left fielder’s head, scoring all three baserunners and leaving Dougherty at second base with a three-run double. The Royals then scored another run later in the inning to make it 5-1 to earn the victory.

Dougherty led the way for the Royals both at the plate and on the mound, recording three RBIs while also going seven innings and allowing no earned runs on three hits and striking out seven on the hill.

Dougherty said they were able to connect with the ball better in the second game and start stringing some hits together, which helped the team’s level of enthusiasm.

“It definitely was a team effort. We were hitting the ball pretty good in the second game after we struggled in the first game,” Dougherty said. “Once you get a couple of hits going, it’s just like a chain effect. It riles everyone up and you get pumped up and it makes us believe more.”

He added that his key on the mound was his slider and his ability to mix up pitches throughout the game.

“My slider was moving pretty well which helps a lot,” Dougherty said. “My changeup was working well too, and when I can mix pitches up, it fools the batter and it works pretty well.”

Rusty Swanson took the loss on the hill for Tracy, going six innings while allowing five runs on eight hits while striking out three.

Tracy first baseman Aaron Ziemer said he thought Swanson had a good outing, but felt their defense struggled at times making the necessary plays.

“I thought Rusty threw really well in the second game; I thought he went out and competed. I wish we would’ve made a couple of plays behind him late that we didn’t that could’ve given us a chance to win it because I think he deserved to win it,” Ziemer said. “It’s disappointing when you’ve got a guy out there pitching like that. It’s been one of those things for us the last couple of games.”

Tracy will face Luverne on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. while Ruthton will face Pipestone on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Ziemer said their biggest takeaway will be continuing to take care of themselves and making the right plays on the field.

We’ve just got to be able to see that when we’re a little undermanned like we were today, we can compete,” Ziemer said. “We’re in games, we just got to take care of ourselves and make the plays that need to be made.”

Dougherty said their biggest takeaway will be to keep the defense on their toes with a hard-hitting offense.

“We just need to keep hitting the ball hard,” Dougherty said. “Make the defense make the plays. If they can’t you’re on base.”

Game Four

Minneota 5,

Searles 4

After winning their first games of the tournament, the Minneota and Searles advanced to the championship game for the final game of the night. To decide who would be serving as the home team, the Mudhens and Grizzlies squared off in the classic settling game of rock-paper-scissors. After an intense battle, Minneota won in best two-out-of-three fashion, and would be the host.

Searles got things started in the top of the first with a pair of runs to take an early 2-0 lead. The Mudhens would answer in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs of their own to tie the game. After Austin Buysse started with a leadoff single and advanced on a wild pitch, Nuy brought him in on an RBI single before Beau Buysse got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 2-2.

Minneota then got another run in the next inning when Mike Luke grounded into a fielder’s choice to make give the Mudhens a 3-2 lead. They would then score two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend their advantage to 5-2 thanks to a single by Austin Buysse.

The Grizzlies wouldn’t go away, however, as they strung together an infield single, a walk and a bunt single to load the bases before scoring a run on another walk. An RBI single later in the inning made it a one-run game, but a double play extinguished any further comeback hopes for Searles.

Austin Buysse led the way for the Mudhens with a pair of hits and two RBIs. Zach Nuy earned the win on the hill, going five innings and allowing two runs and six hits while striking out three.

Beau Buysse said their key on the offensive end was believing in themselves and focusing on making good contact.

“We just kept the pace of the game and hung in there and didn’t let those couple of runs keep us down,” he said. We knew the bats would come alive sooner or later and were just focused on hitting the ball hard.”

The infielder added their pitching throughout the afternoon was strong, especially in the second game.

“Henry came out and pitched strikes but got in a little trouble and was a little tight,” he said. “Zach came in and pitched outstanding. He pitched in the zone and let the defense work behind him, got a couple of big strikeouts and he did very well.”

Minneota will face the Madison on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Beau Buysse said their biggest takeaway will be continuing to hit the ball well and play as a team.

“We can hit the ball and we’ve got a lot of guys that can hit it well,” he said. “We were missing a few starters today, but it was good to see some guys score on some of those opportunities that they got. We’re just becoming more of a team.”

Game 1

Minneota 13, Ruthton 4

Ruthton 310 000 0 — 4 7 1

Minneota 100 02(10) x — 13 19 2

HITTING: Ruthton (E. Wiering 3-3, RBI); Minneota (Durfee 2 H, HR, 4 RBI; Hennen 2 H, 2 RBI).

PITCHING (IP-H-R-ER-BB-SO): Ruthton (Hurst 5.0-15-7-7-0-6; Holinka 1.0-4-6-6-0-0); Minneota (Hennen 7.0-7-4-4-1-6).

Game 2

Searles 13, Tracy 2 (5 innings)

Searles 113 45 — 13 10 1

Tracy 000 00 — 2 5 0

HITTING: Tracy (Apperson RBI).

PITCHING (IP-H-R-ER-BB-SO): Tracy (Lanoue 1.1-2-2-2-0-1; Campion 2.2-9-7-7-1-0; Solheim 1.0-1-5-5-6-0).

Game 3

Ruthton 5, Tracy 1

Tracy 000 100 0 — 1 3 3

Ruthton 000 104 x — 5 8 1

HITTING: Ruthton (Doughtery 1 H, 3 RBI); Tracy (Nelson 1 H, RBI).

PITCHING (IP-H-R-ER-BB-SO): Ruthton (Dougherty 7.0-3-1-0-3-7); Tracy (Swanson 6.0-8-5-0-4-3).

Game 4

Minneota 5, Searles 4

Searles 200 002 0 — 4 8 0

Minneota 021 300 x — 5 12 0

HITTING: Minneota (A. Buysse 2 H, 2 RBI).

PITCHING (IP-H-R-ER-BB-SO): Minneota (Pesch 2.0-2-2-2-2-1; Z. Nuy 5.0-6-2-2-1-3).

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today