Photo by Samantha Davis: Milroy’s Isaac Schmitt throws from the mound during a Corn Belt League baseball game against the Marshall A’s at Legion Field in Marshall on June 29. The Yankees will open the Region 2C tournament against Stark on Saturday in Springfield.

MILROY — After finding some momentum in the second half of the regular season and picking up a handful of league wins down the stretch, the second-seeded Milroy Yankees earned the second seed out of the Corn Belt League and will look to make strides in the Region 2C Tournament beginning Saturday.

Milroy is looking to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2021, and for the 31st time in the organization’s 80-year history.

The Region 2C Tournament is a 16-team double-elimination bracket, with four Corn Belt teams and 12 from the Tomahawk East League. There will be four state qualifying games in the semifinals of both the winner and loser’s bracket.

The No. 2 Yankees will open their postseason against the No. 8 Stark Longhorns out of the Tomahawk East on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Springfield. The two have yet to meet this year.

Milroy enters the tournament with an 8-10 overall record, 6-8 in the CBL, while Stark comes in 6-10 overall. The Longhorns are hunting to make the state tournament for the fourth time in the past five five seasons, missing the mark just last season for the first time since 2021.

Milroy had a struggling start this season, dropping six of its first eight games, but worked to get close to evening out its record and go into the postseason opening weekend winning two of its last three games.

After picking up an 8-5 win over Hanska on July 16, the Yankees split its final weekend of the regular season with a dominant 10-0 mercy-rule win over Sacred Heart on Saturday, before suffering a 21-2 loss to Hadley on Sunday.

Nathan Deutz comes off pitching six innings on Saturday for 12 strikeouts, while Milroy has explored a variety of pitchers throughout the season.

The Longhorns on the other hand had a strong start to the season, but slowed down the second half of the regular season.

Stark won four of its first six games, all of which came consecutively, but ultimately only picked up two more the remainder of the season. It most recently defeated St. James 9-3 on July 16, before falling to Courtland 12-0 in seven innings last Friday in its regular-season finale.

In last year’s postseason run, Milroy’s season came to an end with a 19-0 loss to the Atwater Chuckers in the tournament’s elimination bracket, just one game short of a state berth.

The Yankees also ranked third in the Corn Belt’s final league standings, and finished the season 15-9 overall.

The Longhorns’ opportunity to break through to state also fell just short last season with a 9-6 loss to Springfield in the elimination bracket, after a 10-0 quarterfinal loss to Courtland. They finished the season with an 8-8 record.

Following Saturday’s opener, Milroy will play the winner of Tomahawk East No. 4 Lamerton and Corn Belt No. 5 Sacred Heart on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Springfield if the Yankees win.

With a loss, Milroy will drop to the elimination bracket to play the loser of Lamberton and Sacred Heart on Sunday in Sleepy Eye at 1:30 p.m.