The second-seeded Brainerd Braves edged No. 3 Harding 5-4 Sunday in the opening round of the Victory League North Division playoffs.
Brainerd was led by the hot bat of Nate Foss who was 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Jamie LaDouceur was 3-4 with an RBI and Jason Roepke had two doubles and an RBI for the Braves.
Tony Whitlock picked up the win for the Braves. Christian Larson struck out the side in the ninth to get the save.
Gary Woitalla was 2-3 with a run and RBI for the Dinosaurs.
Brainerd will play at top-seeded Fort Ripley on Saturday while Harding will host No. 4 Cuyuna Range the same day in an elimination game.
Harding 4 6 0
Brainerd 5 14 0
WP: Tony Whitlock. LP: Joel Hendrickson. 2B: Brd Jason Roepke 2, Derek Owen; H Eric Hanneken.
Fort Ripley 6, Cuyuna Range 3
FORT RIPLEY - Top-seeded Fort Ripley opened the North Division playoffs with a 6-3 win over No. 4 Cuyuna Range on Sunday.
Rhett Williamson doubled to open the game and Austin Schmolke and Jason Sather added RBI hits in the first as the Rebels scored three times in the first inning. Schmolke went 3-for-5 with two RBIs to lead the Rebels. Caleb McDonald pitched five innings for the win.
Lance Herbst and Dan Abear each had two hits and a run for the Miners.
Ft. Ripley will host No. 2 seed Brainerd next Saturday and Cuyuna Range will go to No. 3 Harding in an elimination game next Saturday.
LASTRUP - The No. 1-seeded Lastrup Lakers took care of the No. 4 Pierz Bulldogs 12-2 in seven innings Sunday in the first round of the East Division playoffs.
The Lakers will face No. 2 Buckman in next weekend's second round while the Bulldogs will play the No. 3 Pierz Brewers in an elimination game.
Bulldogs 2 6 2
Lastrup 12 12 0
WP: Chad Weiss. LP: . 2B: . 3B: . HR: .
Buckman 8, Pierz Brewers 7
BUCKMAN - The second-seeded Buckman Billygoats rallied with two out in the bottom of the ninth to beat the No. 3 Pierz Brewers 8-7 Sunday in the opening round of the East Division playoffs.
The Brewers led 7-5 going to the bottom of the ninth when Shawn Lanners drilled a run-scoring double to make it 7-6 with two out.
With runners at second and third Pete Oldakowski doubled in two runs to give the Billygoats the win.
Pierz led 4-0 until Buckman starter Todd Robinson hit a three-run homer in the third.
Mike Boser was 2-5 with an RBI and a run for the Brewers.
Brewers 7 7 1
Buckman 8 14 9
WP: Todd Robinson. LP: Scott Kimman. 2B: B John Kahl, Shawn Lanners. HR: B Todd Robinson.
Cuyuna Range 6, St. Mathias 3
CROSBY - The Cuyuna Range Miners eliminated the St. Mathias Devils 6-3 in the North Division play-in game Saturday.
St. Mathias maintained a 3-2 lead after 6 1/2 innings, but a two-run seventh gave Cuyuna its first lead.
James Freese picked up the win in relief for the Miners. Dan Abear was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI and Matt Aberle also had two hits and an RBI.
Bill Aamodt struck out 13 in 7 2/3 innings but took the loss.
St. Mathias 3 9 1
Cuyuna 6 8 5
WP: James Freese. LP: Bill Aamodt. 2B: Dan Abear.
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