ST. PETER — Marshall 15U VFW Orange held off a late rally from the Coon Rapids Cardinals on Friday night to open the Gopher State Tournament with a 12-9 win.

Friday’s victory brings Marshall to 1-0 in Group A pool play, tying them with Eu Claire, who defeated Irondale earlier in the day.

Marshall got on the scoreboard in the top of the first when Noah Frazee doubled and then scored on an Ethan Boeck single. One inning later, they doubled that lead to 2-0 when Tyler Kraft walked, was replaced on first by courtesy runner Cody Rauch, and Rauch stole second before scoring on a Trae Bailey single to center.

The Marshall lead doubled once again in the third when Frazee was hit by a pitch in the leadoff at-bat. He stole second, advanced to third on a dropped third strike, and scored on a two-out single from Ethan Weedman. Kraft then doubled in Weedman to increase Marshall’s lead to four runs.

Trae Bailey earned the win on the mound for Marshall after pitching the first four innings. He struck out four batters while allowing four hits and six walks. He also allowed a pair of runs in the third inning and another three in the fifth. He left the game with the bases loaded and no outs, and all three inherited runners went on to score.

Kraft and Bailey led Marshall at the plate with three hits and a walk each, including two doubles for Kraft and another for Bailey. Boeck and Frazee each added a single and a double for Marshall, including a team-leading three RBIs for Boeck, while Greenwood singled twice.

Andrew Lee was tagged with another three earned runs and one unearned run in relief before being replaced by Cannon Craigmile, who tossed two innings without allowing an earned run. He struck out five batters while allowing just one hit and no walks.

After a pair of Cardinals runs crossed in the bottom of the third to make it a two-run game, Marshall rallied back ahead in the fourth. Bailey hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Lee and scored on an Easton Greenwood single. A Frazee single put runners on the corners and, with two outs, Jackson Sirovy hit a two-run single to make the score 7-2.

Prior to Coon Rapids’ seven-run inning in the bottom of the fifth, Marshall gave itself some extra breathing room in the top of the frame. Kraft singled before scoring on another single from Bailey. After Lee singled to put runners on the corners, Greenwood hit Marshall’s fourth single in five at-bats to drive in Bailey and Boeck hit a two-run double to make the score 11-2.

Kraft doubled in the top of the sixth for Marshall and courtesy runner Rauch scored on a wild pitch to make the score 12-9. From there, Craigmile closed out the game by striking out three consecutive batters after hitting the Cardinals’ leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth.

Marshall improves to 19-9 overall on the season with the win and will take on Minnetonka today at 10:15 a.m.