Photo by Samantha Davis: Marshall Black’s Cannon Craigmile throws from the mound during a Junior Legion baseball game against Sleepy Eye at the Irish Yard in Milroy on June 24. Craigmile threw five innings in Marshall’s road matchup against Willmar on Thursday, helping Marshall claim an 11-2 win to snap the team’s four-game head-to-head losing streak against Willmar this season.

WILLMAR — The Marshall Black Junior Legion baseball team took on Willmar in its final regular-season doubleheader of the season on Thursday. A lack of timely hits left Marshall with a 4-0 loss in the opener, but Cannon Craigmile’s five innings on the mound without an earned run allowed and two hits for three RBIs helped Marshall claim an 11-2 win in the nightcap.

Willmar starting pitcher Logan Fagerlie’s pitching played a major factor in Marshall’s inability to get on the scoreboard in the first game, Marshall manager Chace Pollock said, adding that Willmar has put together a quality season behind its depth of talent this year. He also noted that Marshall had lost four consecutive games to Willmar this season before winning the fifth on Thursday, saying that he doesn’t recall another time that Marshall has come back to beat a team that had previously been 4-0 against Marshall on the season.

“I think the luck kind of evened itself out in that second game, where it seemed like the first four times we played these guys, we couldn’t catch a break,” Pollock said. “Nothing really went our way, but the bats started out hot [in the second game on Thursday] and we took advantage of some mistakes and played the baseball that we’re capable of.”

Craigmile and Ethan Boeck each finished with three hits and a walk across the two games, including three RBIs and a double for Craigmile.

Tyler Kraft was charged with the loss in the first game despite limiting Willmar to one earned run over 5 1/3 innings.

Marshall held a 4-2 advantage in hits in the first game, but no walks at the plate and four errors in the field left them with the loss. Marshall also committed four errors in the second game, but put together a 9-4 advantage in hits and capitalized on Willmar’s three errors to secure the win. 

Marshall finishes its regular season at 17-7 and now prepares to make a run in the Junior Legion Sub-State G tournament next week. Pollock said he feels Black has played a strong schedule this year, making a point of trying to give the players quality opponents to prepare them for the postseason.

Marshall, awarded the No. 2 seed, will open the double-elimination tournament against No. 7 Worthington at Mankato East High School on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.

“We could use a couple of good days of practice just to get back to the basics and work on some of the things that we need to improve on,” Pollock said, adding that he believes the gap between Thursday’s games and the start of the postseason is enough time for the team to be ready to go for the postseason.

GAME 1

Willmar 4, Marshall 0

Willmar strung together a trio of runs in the third inning to stake an early lead and relied on its pitching from there to down Marshall 4-0 in the opener.

Jackson Carlson scored the go-ahead run when he walked and then scored when Marshall committed an error fielding an Eli Ewert bunt. Ewert advanced to third on the play before scoring on a Griffin Banks ground out, and Aidan Paulson walked before scoring on an Alex Hoppe single to make the score 3-0.

Tyler Kraft was charged with the loss on the mound for Marshall, giving up one earned run and three unearned runs over 5 1/3 innings. He limited Willmar to two hits and six walks on the day, while Noah Frazee finished the game for Marshall by getting the final two outs.

Frazee also accounted for Marshall’s lone extra-base hit of the game, a double to lead off the fifth inning before Willmar retired three consecutive Marshall batters. Ethan Boeck, Cannon Craigmile and Noah Pieper each also singled while no Marshall batters walked in the game.

Hudson Sjoberg led off the sixth with a single, stole second and scored when Logan Fagerlie, Carlson and Banks each drew walks to force in a run with two outs.

Fagerlie got the win for Willmar, giving up two hits with four strikeouts over four shutout innings. Hoppe also pitched a pair of shutout innings while Paulson threw one.

Paulson and Carlson each drew a pair of walks for Willmar while Hoppe and Sjoberg accounted for the team’s lone hits.

BOX SCORE

MARSHALL

L. Fagerlie: W, 4 IP, 2 H, 4 SO; A. Hoppe: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 SO; A. Paulson: IP, SO.

GAME 2

Marshall 6, Willmar 1

The Marshall Orange bats got off to a hot start in the second game of their doubleheader against Willmar, opening the game with six first-inning runs to set the tone for an 8-2 bounce-back win.

Boeck, Craigmile and Kraft loaded the bases in the bottom of the first with a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch in the game’s first three at-bats. 

Pieper drew first blood for Marshall by driving in one run when he reached on an error, and Trae Bailey singled in another to quickly double the lead.

Jackson Sirovy grounded into a double play, but still a run scored on the play to further extend the Marshall lead. Frazee then singled in a fourth run and, after a Cole Raley walk, Frazee scored on a passed ball and Ethan Weedman singled in Raley for a 6-0 lead.

Craigmile picked up the win on the mound for Marshall, holding Willmar hitless through three innings. He went on to pitch five innings without an earned run allowed, giving up two unearned runs on two hits and six walks with eight strikeouts.

“[Craigmile’s] fastball had a lot of life in it tonight and he was able to get his curveball over in some key counts,” Pollock said. “He wiggled out of a couple different jams, but he did a great job. That’s the Cannon we know that we’ve seen all summer.”

Willmar responded with a two-out rally in the top of the second, stringing together back-to-back walks before an error allowed Hoppe to score. 

Yet, Marshall’s lead expanded further in the third when Bailey and Sirovy reached base on a single and an error, and a Raley ground out and a Weedman single drove in each of the two runners. Craigmile then followed up a Boeck walk with a two-run double to make the score 10-1.

Boeck, Craigmile, Bailey and Weedman each had a pair of hits for Marshall in the win. Craigmile also had a double and three RBIs while Weedman drove in another pair of runs.

A pair of walks followed by a Marshall error after a double play gave New Ulm a run in the top of the fifth, but consecutive singles by Craigmile and Boeck gave Marshall a run back in the bottom of the frame to make the score 11-2.

Pieper closed out the game on the mound with a pair of scoreless innings, striking out five batters while allowing two hits and a walk.

Ewert was tagged with the loss after giving up two earned and four unearned runs while getting two outs for New Ulm. Gold put five pitchers on the mound in the game. 

BOX SCORE

MARSHALL

E. Ewert: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 BB; E. Hagen: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, BB, 2 SO; J. Carlson: IP; H. Sjoberg: IP, 2 H, R, ER, SO; J. Ellingson: IP, BB, SO.