Photo by Ari Selvey: Murray County Central second baseman Carson Lewis (right) makes a throw to first base as shrotstop Tristan Behrends looks on during the Rebels' Class A semifinal game against Madelia, Friday at Faber Field in St. Cloud.

ST. CLOUD — The Murray County Central baseball team’s season ended with some hardware for the Rebels at the Class A state tournament on Friday. The No. 4 Rebels fell to top-seeded Madelia in the semifinals, but they bounced back later in the day with a 5-4 win over No. 3 South Ridge in the third-place game to go home with the bronze.

MCC finishes the best season in program history with a 23-2 overall record, capturing its second-ever section title and best state finish. The Rebels’ only other appearance in the state tournament came in 2001, when they placed fifth in the Class A tournament.

Teague Meyer, Gabriel Tentinger, Carter Hanson and Cayden Veldhuisen each graduated this year, but the Rebels still have the depth to carry some of the momentum from this season into next year.

No. 1 Madelia 9, No. 4 MCC 2

Madelia strung together seven fourth-inning runs to pull away from the Rebels. The Rebels retired back-to-back batters after hitting the leadoff man, but another pair of hit batters, three singles, a triple and an error gave Madelia all of its offense in the inning with two outs.

The Rebels answered a second-inning Madelia run with a tying run in the top of the third. Tentinger was hit by a pitch to start the inning and scored on a Teague Meyer single, but the Hawks scored a go-ahead run in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead.

Meyer took the loss on the mound, giving up seven earned runs and another pair of unearned runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings. Tristan Behrends threw another 2 1/3 frames of scoreless relief, holding the Hawks to two walks with no hits. Still, the fourth-inning damage was too much for the Rebels’ offense to overcome despite the defensive efforts.

Behrends led off the sixth with a single and scored on a Carson Lewis double, though Lewis was tagged out trying to stretch the hit into a triple and the Rebels weren’t able to rally any further from there.

Lewis led the Rebels at the plate with a double, a single and an RBI. No other Rebels reached base multiple times.

Madelia went on to win the state championship game on Monday by defeating No. 2 Red Lake County via six-inning mercy rule, 11-1.

BOX SCORE

BATTING

T. Meyer: 1-4, RBI, SB, SO; T. Behrends: 1-3; D. Kluis: 0-2, BB; K. Schneider: 0-3, R; C. Lewis: 2-3 (2B), RBI; C. Veldhuisen: 0-2, HBP; G. Tentinger: 0-1, BB, HBP, R; C. Hanson: 1-2.

PITCHING

T. Meyer: L, 3.2 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 3 SO; T. Behrends: 2.1 IP, 2 BB, SO.

THIRD-PLACE GAME

No. 4 MCC 5, No. 3 South Ridge 4

MCC rallied for four fifth-inning runs to turn the tide in its 5-4 win over South Ridge in the Class A third-place game.

The Rebels trailed 2-0 heading into the game, but capitalized when Lewis reached base on an error. South Ridge retired each of the next two Rebel batters, but Tentinger reached base on another error to get the Rebels on the scoreboard and Carter Hanson reached base on a third error to tie up the game. Meyer then hit a go-ahead RBI single and scored on a Behrends single to bring the score to 4-2.

Dugan Kluis earned the win on the mound, holding South Ridge to three earned runs on four hits and six walks over six innings. Meyer earned the save by throwing a no-hit seventh inning, limiting South Ridge to one base runner on a walk.

South Ridge scored a pair of runs in the fourth to take an early lead, and cut the deficit back to a single run by scoring one in the bottom of the fifth. Yet, MCC got its insurance run back in the top of the sixth when Schneider and Lewis walked, and Danny Larson drove in a run on a ground out to bring the score to 5-3.

South Ridge put together one last gasp at forcing extras in the bottom of the seventh. An MCC error and a single put two runners on for South Ridge, prompting the Rebels to make a pitching change with Meyer taking over on the mound. The Panthers got a sacrifice fly to bring themselves within a run, and a walk put the tying run on second with one out. Yet, Meyer struck out the next batter and Lewis fielded a ground out at second to seal the win.

BOX SCORE

BATTING

T. Meyer: 1-4, RBI, R; T. Behrends: 1-3, BB, RBI, SB; K. Schneider: 0-2, BB; C. Lewis: 0-2, BB, R, SB; D. Larson: 0-3, RBI; G. Tentinger: 0-3, R; C. Hanson: 1-3, RBI, R.

PITCHING

D. Kluis: W, 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 2 SO; T. Meyer: S, IP, BB, SO.