Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Jake Hess fires a pitch during their game against Minneota on Wednesday. The A’s defeated the Mudhens 7-6 in seven innings.

MARSHALL – The Marshall and Minneota amateur baseball teams got one final tune-up Wednesday night before they begin their playoff schedule this weekend. The Mudhens jumped out to an early lead, but the A’s battled back late to earn a 7-6 victory in seven innings.

Neither team found scoring in the first, but Minneota quickly got the bats going in the top half of the second. After Austin Buysse led things off with a single, the A’s were able to turn a double play to get two quick outs. The Mudhens wouldn’t be deterred, however, getting a walk from Henry Pesch before Danny Hennen connected on a single and Brock Buysse reached on an infield single of his own to bring in the first run of the game.

Minneota then added to its lead in the next inning, as Tyson Sonnenburg reached on an error before Jake Leighton advanced him on a sacrifice. Adam Durfee then came up and smacked an RBI double to make it 2-0.

Marshall had an answer in the bottom half of the frame, though, as Joey Blanchard, Jordon Kontz and Justin Mettling all drew a walk to load the bases before Jon Ellis drew a walk of his own to bring in a run and cut it to 2-1. After a popout, Nick Klaith and Justin Greenwood connected on back-to-back RBI singles to plate a pair of runs to give Marshall the lead back at 3-2 after three innings of play.

The Mudhens would respond right back in the top of the fourth, getting a leadoff walk from Hennen before Brock Buysse reached on an error to put runners on the corners with no outs. Beau Buysse then stepped up and lined an RBI single to tie things up at 3-3 before Leighton reached on an error to plate another run and make it 4-3. The Mudhens then added a pair of runs later in the inning to extend their lead to 6-3.

The A’s cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth, as Brandon Labat and Jake Hess reached on a couple of errors before Justin Greenwood smacked an RBI double to left-center to make it 6-4. Marshall then got to within one thanks to an RBI single from Ryan VanMoer, but the Mudhens then got out of the inning with a double play to maintain a 6-5 lead.

After a scoreless sixth, Marshall had a chance to tie or win the game in the bottom of the seventh, as Klaith and Greenwood got aboard to put runners on first and second with no outs. Blanchard would draw a walk with two outs to load the bases, and Kontz reached on a walk of his own to tie things up at 6-6. Justin Mettling then drew another walk to bring in the game-winning run.

Marshall will face Atwater in the first round of the Region 4C playoffs on Saturday in Atwater at 6:30 p.m. while Minneota will face Clinton on Saturday in the first round of the Region 9C playoffs in Madison at 5 p.m.