With the conclusion of division playoff championship games Sunday, July 21, the seedings have been set for the Region 8C tournament beginning Saturday, July 27 in Pierz.
North No. 1 Nisswa faces West No. 2 at 11 a.m. and West No. 1 Upsala plays North No. 2 Fort Ripley at 1:30 p.m.; South No. 1 St. Stephen takes on East No. 2 Pierz Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. and East No. 1 Buckman wraps up the opening day against South No. 2 Avon at 7 p.m.
Quarterfinals and elimination bracket games continue Sunday, July 28 at Legion Park in Pierz. Playbacks and semifinals continue Aug. 3-4 in Avon which is also the site for 8C championship game Aug. 10.
Nisswa 2, Fort Ripley 1
FORT RIPLEY -- Kolton Michalski drove in both runs for the Nisswa Lightning who captured the North Division playoff title with a 2-1 win over the regular season division champion Fort Ripley Rebels Sunday, July 21.
With both teams already assured berths in the Region 8C tournament, the two teams used a combined eight pitchers. Tyler Witter earned the win with three innings of middle relief. He gave up two hits, walked a batter and allowed the only Rebel run.
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Fort Ripley plated their only run on an RBI double by Bill Sather in the sixth inning after Nisswa had scored its two runs in the fourth.
Nisswa’s Aaron Jenkins and Fort Ripley’s Logan Kalis were the only two players with multiple hits with two each.
Nisswa 2 4 1
Fort Ripley 1 5 1
WP: Tyler Wittwer. LP: Brett Kramer. 2B: N-Kolton Michalski; FR-Bill Sather.
Buckman 11, Bulldogs 8
BUCKMAN -- Lane Girtz and Travis Kahl both went 3-5 for the Buckman Billygoats who added the East Division Playoff Championship to their regular season title with an 11-8 win over the Pierz Bulldogs Sunday, July 21.
Buckman’s biggest inning came in the fourth when it scored four runs keyed by a three-run homer from Matt Kummet that put the Billygoats up 11-4.
Kummet, Jack Suska and winning pitcher Matt Tautges finished with two hits apiece. Aaron Weber contributed a double.
Pierz was led by Logan Meyer, the only Bulldog with multiple hits, who went 3-6 with a double.
Bulldogs 8 9 1
Buckman 11 14 3
WP: Matt Tautges. LP: Joe Strauch. 2B: Buck-Aaron Weber; Bull-Logan Meyer. HR: Buck-Matt Kummet.
St. Stephen 3, Avon 2
AVON -- The third-seeded St. Stephen Steves completed an undefeated run through the South Division playoffs with a 3-2 win over the Avon Lakers Sunday, July 21.
It was the second win of the playoffs for the Steves over the regular season champions and top-seed Lakers. St. Stephen also beat No. 2 Freeport on its way to the title.
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Bo Schmitz’s second hit of the game drove in the eventual winning run for the Steves and a 3-1 lead in the seventh.
Taylor Holthaus went 3-5 with a pair of doubles to lead Avon.
St. Stephen 3 7 1
Avon 2 11 2
WP: Riley Hartwig. LP: Matt Pichelmann. 2B: SS-Blake Guggenberger; A-Caleb Curry, Taylor Holthaus 2, Riley Voit, Josh Becker. HR: SS-Riley Hartwig.
Upsala 11, Randall 1
UPSALA -- Brady Burggraff went 3-4 with a home run, two RBIs and scored three runs for the Upsala Blue Jays who defeated the Randall Cubs 11-1 in seven innings for the West Division Playoff Championship Sunday, July 21.
Matt Swanson also collected three hits for the Blue Jays who were the West Division regular season champs.
