Photo by Sam Thiel Wabasso’s Jacob Plaetz connects for a base hit during their Class A Tournament game against Parkers Prairie on Thursday in Chaska. The Rabbits fell to the Panthers 8-6.

CHASKA – After a dominant run in the Section 3A Tournament, the Wabasso baseball team entered the Class A Tournament looking to continue its strong play with an opening round matchup against fifth-seeded Parkers Prairie Thursday afternoon.

The fourth-seeded Rabbits had the makings of another solid performance, belting out 15 hits and scoring six runs in five innings of work. One half-inning, however, changed the complete outcome.

With a six-run deficit and not much offense to back it up, the Panthers needed a spark if they were going to advance to the semifinal round. They got that right from the leadoff batter in the top of the sixth, as Travis Yohnke delivered a triple before using an RBI single from Alex Koep for their first run of the game. After a single from Noah Koep and a walk from Josh Helling loaded the bases with no outs, Parkers Prairie got an RBI single from Cody Springer and a pair of wild pitches to cut the deficit to 6-4.

Wabasso would get a strikeout for its first out of the inning, but Matt Ferley of Parkers Prairie came up with a two-run triple that tied things up at 6-6. On the ensuing batter, Ferley raced towards home plate and reached safely for a steal to give the Panthers their first lead of the game at 7-6. Parkers Prairie then scored on another wild pitch later in the frame to extend its lead to 8-6.

After the big inning from Parkers Prairie, the Rabbits had an opportunity to score in the bottom half of the sixth, loading the bases with one out, but couldn’t capitalize and found themselves still trailing by two going into the seventh.

Wabasso held the Panthers in check in the top of the seventh, but the Rabbits went down in order in their final at-bat to fall 8-6.

“That’s tough to watch, when you do all of that work to get a nice lead and then watch it all fall apart,” Wabasso coach Chad Olson said. “That was hard for me as a coach to watch, but I thought we played great up to that point; 15 hits in the ballgame, six runs, you’ve got your ace on the mound with it being 6-0 going into the sixth, and you like your chances there, but not today [on Thursday] I guess.”

Parkers Prairie (19-9), who entered the tournament as the defending Class A champions, had chances to find offense and scoring early in the game, but just couldn’t piece together timely hits. The Panthers threatened to score right away in the top of the first, getting a leadoff single before advancing to third on a pair of wild pitches. After a walk put runners on the corners with one out, Wabasso starter Nick Altermatt got a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat.

Wabasso didn’t capitalize on its first at-bat of the day, but did so in the bottom half of the second. After a groundout got things started in the frame, Kyle Jacobson, Lance Wagner and Jayden Eis all recorded base hits to load the bases. A popout gave the Rabbits their second out of the inning, but Cooper Taylor stepped up and connected on an RBI single to give Wabasso its first run of the game and an early 1-0 lead.

After Parkers Prairie went down in order to start the third, the Rabbits added to their lead in the bottom of the frame, getting a one-out triple from Altermatt before Jacob Plaetz smacked an RBI single to make it 2-0 after three.

Wabasso continued to find scoring in the middle innings, as Eis led things off with a dropped third strike and advanced all the way to second on the play. Will Carlson then came up and hit an RBI single of his own before Plaetz found his second RBI base hit of the day to push the Rabbits’ lead to 4-0.

The Rabbits added to their advantage in the next inning, with Jacobson and Wagner leading the way with back-to-back hits before Carlson drove in his second run of the day. Cooper Taylor then came up in the ensuing at-bat and reached on an error to plate another run, making it 6-0 Wabasso after five, ultimately setting the stage for the Panthers’ comeback.

Plaetz led the way for the Rabbits with a 3 for 4 day at the plate with two RBI while Jacobson, Altermatt, Wagner and Carlson all collected two hits apiece. Carlson also added a pair of RBI while Cooper Taylor chipped in two more RBI and one hit.

Plaetz said it was nice to see the bottom half of the lineup produce some hits and runs throughout the afternoon.

“I think three or four people in the bottom of the lineup had two or more hits so that’s probably the first time all year that we’ve had that production from the bottom of the lineup so that was nice to see,” Plaetz said.

Altermatt finished with five innings of work, allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out seven.

Olson said Altermatt gave themselves a chance to win, but just started to run out of steam towards the end.

“Nick’s going to give you a chance to win and he did that, but I think he just got tired with a lot of adrenaline going through all week building up to this,” Olson said. “It kind of takes a toll on a 17 or 18-year-old kid, so that’s understandable. He didn’t go quite as deep into the game as we thought he would but he had a great effort and it was the typical Nick until he got late into the ballgame.”

Wabasso (14-5) falls to the consolation bracket, where it will face Sacred Heart at 10 a.m. at the Mini Met in Jordan. Sacred Heart fell earlier Thursday to top-seeded Heritage Christian Academy on a walk-off, 4-3. The winner of that game will play in the consolation championship at 3 p.m.

Plaetz said they just need to keep their feet on the gas pedal and clean up their mistakes as they play their final games of the season.

“Just keep on the gas pedal; we can’t let up for a little bit,” Plaetz said. “We’ve got to sharpen up our pitching and we should be fine.”

Parkers Prairie 8, Wabasso 6

Parkers Prairie 000 008 0 – 8 9 2

Wabasso 011 220 0 – 6 15 0

Hitting: Wabasso (Cooper Taylor 1-5, 2 RBI; Franta 1-5; Altermatt 2-4; Plaetz 3-4, 2 RBI; Kemp 1-4; Jacobson 2-2; Wagner 2-4; Eis 1-4; Carlson 2-4, 2 RBI).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Wabasso (Altermatt 5-5-5-7-4-7; Jacobson 0.1-3-3-2-0-1; Plaetz 1.2-0-0-0-2-2).