Wilmar 4, Granite Falls 1

GRANITE FALLS — Nikson Knapper’s nine-inning outing on the mound wasn’t enough to get Granite Falls to a win on Friday night. The Kilowatts pitcher limited Wilmar to just two earned runs on the day but a lack of run support left Granite Falls with a 4-1 loss.

Knapper struck out three batters on the day while allowing nine hits, a walk and a hit batter. He was efficient with his pitches, throwing just 101 over the full nine frames, but was also tagged with a pair of unearned runs.

The two unearned runs the Rails scored came in the third. Braeden Fagerlie hit a leadoff single before scoring when Zach Reierson got all the way to third on an error by the Granite Falls shortstop. Knapper struck out two of the next three batters, but an Aston Gregory fly out to center in between allowed Reierson to tag up for a 2-0 Wilmar lead.

Wilmar scored another pair of earned runs in the top of the eighth, courtesy of a Reierson double, a pair of singles by Adam Herman and Jack Baumgart, and a sacrifice fly by Wade Fischer.

Trailing 4-0, Granite Falls got on the board in the bottom of the ninth. Bennet Knapper hit a leadoff double and scored when Bryce Sneller hit an RBI double in the next at-bat. Yet, Wilmar retired each of the next three batters to finish off the victory.

Hunter Wilke was the lone Kilowatt to reach base twice on the day, singling in the game’s first at-bat and getting hit by a pitch in the sixth inning.

The Kilowatts left Cody Dahlager stranded on third base in the third inning after he hit a leadoff single and stole second, and also left Andrew Flaten and Nolan Hildahl stranded on third and second respectively in the seventh after they each drew walks.

Granite Falls drops to 5-8 in the Corn Belt with the loss, putting them in a tie with Wilmar for fifth place. The Kilowatts will look to end the regular season on a high note when they go on the road to face first-place Raymond on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.Benson 5, Cottonwood 3

BENSON — A third-inning Plowboy rally spelled doom for the Cottonwood Cardinals on Friday night as they fell 5-3 on the road against Benson.

The Plowboys and the Cardinals each scored a run in the first before Benson pulled ahead with a three-run second inning. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases for Benson and a hit batter, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly brought Benson’s lead to 4-1.

Cottonwood scored in the top of the first when Noah Jensen doubled, advanced to third on a Jacob Rausch ground out and scored on a Seth Boerboom single. Still, Benson evened the score in the bottom of the frame on a walk, two singles and a sacrifice fly.

Brady Enstad threw all eight innings for Cottonwood. He limited the Plowboys to five hits on the day but six walks and a hit batter ended the night with him allowing five earned runs.

Jensen and Seth Boerboom each had three hits for Cottonwood, including a pair of doubles for Jensen and one for Boerboom. Jensen also drew a walk on the day while Seth Plotz’s three RBIs were a game-high.

The Cardinals inched their way back into the game when Rausch and Boerboom singled consecutively to start the third and Rausch scored when Plotz flied out to center field. Yet, Boerboom was caught trying to advance to third on the play, leaving the score at 4-2 after the inning.

In the top of the fifth, Boerboom doubled with two outs and then scored on a Plotz single to center. Yet, Benson added a run of its own in the bottom of the fifth, courtesy of a solo homer, to keep the Cardinals at bay.

Both teams went scoreless over the final four innings to keep the score at 5-3 in favor of the Blowboys.

Cottonwood finished the game with nine hits to Benson’s five and committed one error to Benson’s three.

Cottonwood falls to 3-8 on the season with the loss and will wrap up the regular season at Chokio on Sunday at 2 p.m.