RUTHTON – When section seedings come out, your typical first round game between the number one seed and the number eight seed many times results in a lopsided game. When Number 8 Seed Adrian took on Number 1 Seed RTR, not many people expected a close game. But in the end, RTR did prevail in what turned out to be a low-scoring affair, edging Adrian 3-2.

In the top of the first, Adrian’s Quentin Wolf lined a two-out triple, but RTR pitcher Cody Wichmann was able to register his third strikeout of the inning to end the threat. In the bottom of the first inning, things started out well with an Aiden Wichmann lead-off single. Chase Christianson reached on an infield single, with Wichmann taking third. Blake Christianson then drilled a double to drive in two runs, and it looked promising for a big inning. But after a Hayden Gravley single, Adrian pitcher Keagan Polzine struck out the next two batters, making the score 2-0 after one inning.

Adrian put a runner on with two outs, but a strikeout ended the second inning. RTR came to bat in their half of the inning, and Aiden Wichmann drilled a double. After a balk advanced him to third, he was able to come home on a passed ball, making it 3-0 and it looked like the predictions of a lopsided win may come true.

However, Adrian had other ideas, as they mounted a two-out rally that started with an Andy Rahe single. Quentin Wolf followed that with an RBI single to the gap in left-center to make the score 3-1. After a walk, Wichmann notched his 7th strikeout of the game to shut down the rally. In the bottom of the third, Cody Wichmann doubled, and after an error, Hayden Gravley singled to load the bases with nobody out. Polzine then promptly struck out the next three batters to keep RTR scoreless.

The fourth inning produced another run for Adrian when Reese Morrison hit a one-out double, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, and was able to score on a passed ball. RTR did not score in their half of the inning, so the score now was 3-2.

The fifth and sixth innings resulted in neither team scoring, so Adrian started the seventh inning down by a run. But Cody Wichmann took command, striking out all three batters looking to give RTR the win. Wichmann ended up with 11 strikeouts, while Polzine notched 10 strikeouts in a valiant effort to pull of an upset.