Photo by Jake McNeill: Hadley’s Tucker Sorenson throws a pitch during a Gopher League baseball game against the Milroy Irish at Laurie Mahon Field in Hadley on June 29. Sorenson pitched a complete-game shutout for the Buttermakers in their postseason debut on Wednesday, striking out 21 batters as the Buttermakers defeated Pipestone 3-0 in game 1 of a first-round series against the Pipestone A’s in the Region 10C tournament.

PIPESTONE — Tucker Sorenson punched out 21 batters on Wednesday night to lead the Hadley Buttermakers to victory in game 1 of a best-of-3 opening-round series against the Pipestone A’s in the Region 10C tournament. The A’s bats had no answer for Sorenson, and he got enough run support from the Buttermaker bats for Hadley to claim a 3-0 win.

Sorenson threw all nine innings for a complete-game shutout, limiting Pipestone to six hits. Despite his high strikeout total, he finished the night without walking a single batter.

The Buttermakers got all of the offensive run support they needed in the top of the first. Austin Irlbeck and Derek Kluis hit back-to-back singles to put a runner in scoring position with one out, and a pair of RBI singles from Max Zwart and Jakob Olson gave Hadley a 2-0 lead.

Irlbeck, Kluis and Zwart each finished the game with two hits, helping Hadley outpace the A’s 10-6 in the stat. James Dieken also reached base twice with a double and a walk.

Danny Blankenship gave the Buttermakers one last insurance run in the sixth when he doubled and then scored on another two-bagger from Abe Paulzine.

Mitch Biever pitched the first four innings for the A’s, limiting Hadley to two earned runs on six hits and a walk, while Carson Frank closed out the game with one earned run allowed on four hits over five innings. Frank finished with four strikeouts while Biever tallied two.

Hadley, now 14-9 on the season, will now have two opportunities to close out the series at home over the weekend. The Buttermakers can clinch their spot in the second round of the 10C tournament with a win over the A’s at Laurie Mahon Field in Hadley on Saturday at 2 p.m. If Hadley can’t come away with a win, the two teams will meet again for a winner-take-all game 3 in Hadley on Sunday at 2 p.m.