Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall outfielder Connor Neubeck (center) is greeted by teammates by the dugout after hitting a game-tying solo home run in the eighth inning of a non-league baseball game against the Hadley Buttermakers on Saturday in Hadley. Neubeck hit two home runs in the game, which the A's won 12-8.

An updated version of this story with quotes will be available in Tuesday’s edition of the Independent

EDIT: Marshall’s next game will be played at Willmar on Sunday, July 13 at 1:30 pm

HADLEY — Connor Neubeck and Ryan Schwagel each hit home runs in the eighth inning of the Marshall A’s non-league game against the Hadley Buttermakers on Saturday afternoon. The pair of blasts gave Marshall a one-run lead, which they carried to a 12-8 win. Neubeck went on to hit another pair of homers on Sunday as the A’s captured a 9-1 win over the Willmar Rails.

“There’s not much going through my head, I like to kind of not think about much at the plate,” Neubeck said of his ability to hit the ball out of the park. “I kind of just trust my hands and everything that I’ve done in my training. And I hit a home run in the [Tomahawk East-Corn Belt League] All-Star Game, so my confidence was high and that always helps me. If my confidence is high, it’s usually a really good game.”

AJ Toulouse pitched three innings of shutout relief for Marshall to earn a win in his pitching debut for the A’s on Saturday against Hadley, while Ashton Blomberg threw five shutout innings on Sunday to get the win, while Owen Kesteloot earned the four-inning save.

Marshall improves to 12-7 on the season with the pair of wins and hosts Granite Falls for its next game on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Legion Field.

The game marked the second consecutive meeting between the A’s and Buttermakers, who faced off in Marshall on Wednesday. In a game played in a much different style. While the two teams combined for 28 hits on Saturday, Hadley outhit Marshall 12-3 on Wednesday in a 6-3 win for the Buttermakers, led by Lincoln Swanjord’s 11 strikeouts over six innings while limiting Marshall to one hit.

On Saturday, Marshall faced an 8-7 deficit heading into the eighth when Connor Neubeck stepped up to the plate. Facing a 1-1 count, Neubeck slammed the ball over the right field wall to tie up the game. Dylan Kluis struck out the next batter he faced, but Ryan Schwagel followed up with a high-arcing ball over the left-field fence to give Marshall a 9-8 lead.

Neubeck finished the day 4 of 6 at the plate with a pair of homers, a double and three RBIs. Cooper Mensink also singled three times for Marshall while Schwagel, Andrew Stelter and Josh Kraft each logged a pair of hits.

In his first time pitching since age 13, AJ Toulouse earned the win on the mound for Marshall in a three-inning scoreless relief outing. He limited Hadley to two hits while walking one batter.

“I’ve just been Schwag [manager Ryan Schwagel] for a chance, and I got it and it was a lot of fun,” Toulouse said, adding that he had a fastball, curveball and changeup in his pitch mix with his focus just being on throwing strikes. “It’s just a blast playing with these guys, and it was fun to rally and get [a win] today.”

Marshall put the game away in the top of the ninth with three insurance runs. Mensink, Stelter and Toulouse hit consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs.

Austin Irlbeck caught a fly ball from Neubeck and gunned it home to Alex Peterson, who tagged Mensink out for a double-play, but Kraft drove in two runs on an error and Schwagel followed up with a two-run double to bring Marshall’s lead to 12-8.

Hadley had a chance to tie the game in the eighth when a Peterson single and an Irlbeck walk put two runners on, but a fielder’s choice and a lineout put two away.

Owen Gillette singled to deep center field, but Mensink threw the ball on a rope to Schwagel at the plate, who tagged Irlbeck on an attempt to score from second for the inning-ending out.

“I felt like I was just going to throw it through the cut. It was a straight line, just had to go put the tag on. It was a money throw and a money tag,” Mensink said. “The adrenaline was there, obviously, seeing the guys screaming, jumping around, it was a great moment for the team.”

From there, Toulouse retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory for Marshall.

Josh Kraft hit an RBI single to score Stelter in the top of the first, but Hadley responded with five unanswered runs to take an early lead.

In the bottom of the frame, Sorenson and Dylan Kluis reached on an error and a walk before Derek Kluis hit the tying RBI double. Irlbeck followed up with another RBI double and Bryce Ahrendt hit a sacrifice fly to give Hadley a two-run advantage.

The Buttermakers stranded two Marshall runners in the top of the second before continuing to surge ahead in the bottom of the frame. Gillette reached on an error, Skylar Feikema singled and Sorenson walked to load the bases with no outs. A Dylan Kluis RBI single and a passed ball then allowed two more Buttermaker runs to score for a 5-1 lead.

Feikema got the start on the mound for Hadley, giving up three earned runs on six hits and four walks over four innings. Avery Weber gave up another pair of earned runs over 2 1/3 frames, and Dylan Kluis was charged with the loss after giving up two earned and three unearned runs on eight hits over 2 2/3 innings.

An RBI double from Kraft and an RBI single from Dylan Kluis gave each team a run in the top of the third, and Neubeck hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to cut Hadley’s lead to 6-4. Yet, Ahrendt drew a bases-loaded walk for Hadley in the bottom of the frame to push the cushion back to three runs.

Braxton Koster doubled to lead off the seventh and then scored when he stole third and advanced home on an errant throw to third. Jake Eben also walked and scored on a Stelter single, just beating the throw home to cut the deficit to 8-7.

Karson Rowe started on the mound for Marshall, giving up one earned run and five unearned runs on four hits and two walks over a pair of innings. Sarsland also pitched one inning, giving up two earned runs on two hits and Stelter gave up one earned run on two hits and two walks over three innings of relief.

The mound appearances were the first of the season for Sarsland, Stelter and Toulouse.

Schwagel was hit by a pitch and scored on a Mensink single with two outs in the fifth, but Hadley answered when Irlbeck singled and scored on an Abe Paulzine line-drive single to center field to make the score 8-5.

BOX SCORE

MARSHALL

Batting

K. Rowe: 2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, ER, 2 BB, SO; W. Sarsland: IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO; A. Stelter: 3 IP, 2 H, R, ER, 2 BB, 3 SO; A. Toulouse: W, 3 IP, 2 H, BB

HADLEY

Batting