Photo by Jake Przytarski Lamberton’s Isaac Jenniges tries to tag out a Stark baserunner during their Region 2C tournament game on Friday. Lamberton fell to Stark 3-1.

LAMBERTON – The Lamberton Longsox needed a win in order to keep pace in the Region 2C tournament but fell just short in a 3-1 final on Friday against the visiting Stark Longhorns. The loss moves Lamberton to a record of 1-4 overall in the round-robin tournament.

Getting the start for the Longsox was Josh Altermatt, who delivered a pair of scoreless innings on the hill to open the game before the Longhorns broke through with all three of their runs scored in the top of the third inning. The crooked number came as a result of a pair of errors in the field to go along with three base hits.

Altermatt would remain on the mound for Lamberton until the top of the seventh when Shane Schoborg took over in relief with one out, and went on to close out the game without allowing any more runs.

Lamberton’s lone run of the game came in the latter half of the fourth inning when Tyler Reiner and Holden Salfer led off with singles before a sacrifice bunt by Cole Pankonin advanced both base runners into scoring position. A groundout by Isaac Jenniges was enough to score Reiner.

The Longsox posted two additional hits in the contest as Nick Altermatt and Johnny Pistulka connected on back to back singles in the third inning with one out, but a pop out and a failed attempt to steal second ended the scoring threat.

Friday’s loss marks the end of the Longsox season as the team finished in sixth place in the Region 2C standings with only the top three advancing to play in the state tournament.