Cinderella tale hits midnight for Brainerd
By RYAN THOMAS
Sports Writer
BRAINERD,MN
Brainerd White's Cinderella romp through the National Baseball Congress "Hap" Dumont 16 and under World Series struck midnight Monday.
The White, a team of 15-year-olds, was not supposed to be in the tournament, but was a last-minute addition when another team dropped out. While in the tournament it ran across its older Brainerd counterpart Sunday and beat the Blue 6-5.
"We're the underdog," said White coach Bruce Ericson. "We're a year younger than everybody else. These kids play well together. They can go out and have fun because we are the underdogs."
The magic flowed over to Monday night at Adamson Field when the White's Nick Dirks threw a complete game to beat the Dodge City, Kan., Feist 12-4. Dirks scattered 11 hits, struck out three, didn't walk a batter, and gave up three earned runs.
"We came out a little flat," said Feist coach Ron Hermann. "We couldn't get anything started. Brainerd has a good ballclub. They really came out hitting the ball. We just didn't do anything offensively. Don't take anything away from Brainerd. They had a lot of hits."
All four runs came on a pair of two-run homers. One came in the fourth off the bat of Zach Shipley to bring Dodge City within 9-2. The other was in the bottom of the fifth by No. 10 hitter Brandon Casey to make it 12-4.
The offense was often and plentiful for Brainerd as the White pounded out 21 hits that led to a 9-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings. The top five batters in the White's lineup provided most of the offense.
Center fielder Chris Macy led the charge by going 5-for-5 with two RBI and scoring twice. Third baseman Rob Lien hit a two-run homer to right-center in the third as Brainerd assumed a 4-0 lead. Lien was 2-for-5 with four RBI and scored twice.
Forty-five minutes after beating the Feist, the White tried its luck against JTM of Cincinnati, not knowing its carriage would turn back into a pumpkin.
"We played five more games than we thought we were going to play," Ericson said. "You can't expect to get 21 hits every game. We got to play a lot of baseball and have fun."
Lien tried to turn his attention to pitching in the nightcap, but only lasted two innings, giving up six earned runs on three hits, three walks and one strikeout.
He walked the first three JTM batters to start the game, and sandwiched them among two wild pitches and two errors. They all scored and JTM took an early 3-0 lead.
Meanwhile, JTM pitcher Brad Wynn did as good of a job keeping Brainerd off the bases as Brainerd had done in the first game of getting on base. He fired a complete-game two-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking just two.
"Good pitching beats good hitting every time. That's a proven fact," said JTM coach Paul Burton of Wynn's 83-pitch performance.
Curtis Sanow's double and Nick Weiland's single were the only hits the White could muster in the second game.
First Game
Brainerd White 022 530 0 - 12-21-2
Dodge City Feist 000 220 0 - 4-11-2
White - Nick Dirks and Curtis Sanow; Feist - Dan Burton, Nate Schulte (4), Reuben Kerbs (6) and Zach Shipley. WP - Dirks. LP -Burton . HR - Rob Lien, Zach Shipley, Brandon Casey.
Second Game
Cincinnati JTM 303 010 1 - 8-6-3
White 000 000 0 - 0-2-5
JTM - Brad Wynn and Kyle Burton; White - Rob Lien, Brett Thompson (3) and Sanow. WP - Wynn. LP - Lien.
By TRACY ERICSON
Brainerd Parks and Recreation
BRAINERD,MN
The League City Aggies of Texas maintained their undefeated status in the National Baseball Congress "Hap" Dumont 16 and under World Series on Monday. The Aggies sent the Topeka Express to the loser's bracket with a 8-4 victory. League City will play the tournament's only other undefeated team, the Saddleridge Braves, today at 3:30 p.m. at Mills Field. The Braves upended Cincinnati JTM on Monday 5-2. With Ryan French on the mound for the Braves, JTM was able to muster only two hits. In the loser's bracket the Newark Angels recorded a tight 2-1 win over the Topeka Express. Doug Larason smacked a double for the Angels while Matt Roy and Nate Wright pitched solidly. The Angels eliminated the Express and play the JTM, also from Ohio, at 6 o'clock tonight at Mills Field. The Angels worked their way toward the championship round by eliminating Fort Worth Tribe of Texas. Aided by Aaron Boland's triple the Angels ended the Tribe's tournament run with an 8-3 victory.
League City Aggies (Texas #1) 8,
Topeka Express (Kansas #2) 4
Aggies - Bobby Garza 3-4 (triple); Steven White 2-4 (double); Kelin Webb 2-3 (double); Eddie Perez 2-3 (double).
Saddleridge Braves (Missouri #1) 5,
Cincinnati JTM (Ohio #3) 2
Braves - Justin Reynolds 2-3 (triple); Ray Oliver 2-3 (double); pitcher: Ryan French 7 ip, 6 so, 3 bb.
Newark Angels (Ohio #2) 8,
Fort Worth Tribe (Texas #2) 3
Angels - Doug Larason 2-4; Aaron Boland 1-2 (triple); pitchers: Matt Gilligan 4 ip, 3 so; Josh Downhour 2 ip; Matt Roy 2 ip.
Angels - Bobby Wells 2-3; Doug Larason 2-3 (double); pitcher: Matt Roy 5 ip, 4 so, 3 bb; Nate Wright 2 ip, 1 so, 1 bb.
Aggies 231 003 X - 8 14 1
Express 110 001 1 - 4 12 0
Express - Brett Starbuck 3-4; Austin Koeling 1-3 (home run).
Braves 004 001 X - 5 6 4
JTM 000 200 0 - 2 2 1
JTM - Ryan Bruck and James Hammonds each singled; pitchers: Hammonds 3 ip, 1 bb; JD Foust 3 ip, 1 bb.
Angels 000 240 2 - 8 7 1
Tribe 000 003 0 - 3 6 2
Fort Worth Tribe - Jason Wight 2-3; pitchers: C. Simmons 4 ip, 1 so, 3 bb, 5 h, 2 r; Andrew Foertsch 3 ip, 4 so, 5 bb, 2 h, 6 r.
Newark Angels (Ohio #2) 2,
Topeka Express (Kansas #2) 1
Angels 101 000 0 - 2 5 0
Express 000 100 0 - 1 5 0
Express - Joel Dunn 2-3; pitchers: Mike Mumert 5 ip, 5 so, 3 bb; Austin Koelling 2 ip, 2 so, 0 bb.
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