The Nisswa Lightning cruised past the Fort Ripley Rebels 7-1 for the North Division playoff title and the Lastrup Lakers slipped past the Buckman Billygoats 8-7 for the East championship in games Sunday, July 22.
The top two teams in each division advance to the Region 8C tournament beginning Saturday, July 28, at Pierz Legion Park.
Also advancing to the region tournament are Sobieski and Upsala from the West and Avon and St. Stephen from the South. The Skis defeated the Blue Jays 10-3 and the Lakers beat the Steves 5-3 in their respective title games.
Saturday's opening-round pairings have West No. 1 Sobieski vs. South No. 2
Sobieski at 11 a.m., South No. 1 Avon vs. West No. 2 Upsala at 1:30 p.m.,
East No. 1 Lastrup vs. North No. 2 Fort Ripley at 5 p.m., and North No. 1
Nisswa vs. East No. 2 Buckman at 7:30 p.m.
Quarterfinal and elimination games follow Sunday, July 29, in Pierz. The remainder
of the tournament will be played at Upsala.
Nisswa 7, Fort Ripley 1
NISSWA-Jason Roepke and Aaron Jenkins belted two-run homers for the Nisswa Lightning who added the North Division playoff championship to their regular-season North title with a 7-1 win over the Fort Ripley Rebels Sunday, July 22.
Jenkins finished 3-3 with three RBIs, including a sacrifice fly. Jeremiah Piepkorn was the only other Nisswa player with multiple hits as he went 3-5. Chris Pederson contributed a double.
Brett Kramer hit a solo blast for Fort Ripley's only run.
Kevin Smith was credited with the win as he scattered six hits and one run over seven innings. Scott Sand worked two shutout innings in relief to finish.
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Fort Ripley 1 8 2
Nisswa 7 13 2
WP: Kevin Smith. LP: Mac Brink. 2B: N-Chris Pederson. HR: N-Jason Roepke, Aaron Jenkins; FR-Brett Kramer. Next: North No. 1 Nisswa vs. East No. 2 Buckman 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at Pierz; East No. 1 Lastrup vs. North No. 2 Fort Ripley 5 p.m. Saturday, July 28 at Pierz.
Lastrup 8, Buckman 7
PIERZ-Nate Janson raced home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh for what proved to be the winning run for the Lastrup Lakers who nipped the Buckman Billygoats 8-7 for the East Division championship Sunday, July 22.
The teams split a pair of 6-5, 10-inning games during the regular season.
Buckman grabbed an early lead when it plated four runs in the top of the first with three bunts and and three Laker throwing errors.
Peter Herman stole home in the second to put Lastrup on the board and Brad
Meyer made it 4-2 with an RBI single in the third. The Lakers tied the game with a fourth-inning RBI single from Preston Rocheleau and solo homer by Meyer in the fifth.
Lane Girtz hit an RBI double in the sixth and Travis Kahl drove in Girtz with a single to put Buckman back up 6-4.
The Lakers took their first lead in the bottom of the inning when Reggie Litke was awarded home on a balk by Matt Tautges. A two-out single by Reese Kapsner drove in the tying run and Meyer picked up his third RBI when he was hit by a Shawn Lanners pitch with the bases loaded.
Aaron Weber tripled in the top of the seventh for Buckman when the Lakers' Herman and Kapsner collided in the outfield. Noah Boser drove in Weber for a 7-7 tie.
Litke drilled a lead-off double to start the bottom of the seventh and was replaced at second by Weber as a pinch-runner when Litke headed to the bullpen to warm up to pitch the final two innings. Weber advanced to third on Dan Saehr's RBI single and scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Lanners.
Chad Weiss went seven innings to earn the win. He only struck out one, but didn't walk a batter while allowing nine hits and seven runs. Litke earned a save with two, shutout innings of relief.
Meyer, Litke and Saehr had two hits apiece for the Lakers.
Weber and Joe Kahl both went 3-5 to lead Buckman and Girtz finished 2-4.
Buckman 7 11 1
Lastrup 8 10 3
WP: Chad Weiss. LP: Shawn Lanners. 2B: L-Reggie Litke, Reese Kapsner; B-Noah Boser, Joe Kahl, Lane Girtz. 3B: B-Aaron Weber. HR: L-Brad Meyer. Next: East No. 1 Lastrup vs. North No. 2 Fort Ripley 5 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at Pierz; North No. 1 Nisswa vs. East No. 2 Buckman 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at Pierz.
Elimination game
Buckman 4, Bulldogs 0
PIERZ-Earlier Sunday, July 22, the Buckman Billygoats defeated the Pierz Bulldogs 4-0 in an elimination game that had been suspended by rain Friday, July 20, with the Goats leading 2-0.
Jeremy Monson pitched a complete-game win shutting out the Bulldogs on three hits while striking out eight.
Matt Tautges and Aaron Weber, the top two hitters in Buckman's lineup, both reached base four times and scored two runs each. Tautges singled and walked three times. Weber doubled, walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Shawn Lanners was the only Billygoat with two hits, but was also hit by a pitch twice.
The Bulldogs only hits came from Craig Luberts, David Skiba and Skip Toops.
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Pierz 0 3 1
Buckman 4 8 1
WP: Jeremy Monson. LP: Derek Schommer. 2B: B-Aaron Weber.
Draftees
Draft picks for the Region 8C tournament include:
Nisswa: Drew Nordean (Aitkin)
Fort Ripley: Hunter Wicklund (St. Mathias)
Lastrup: Peter Schommer (Pierz Bulldogs)
Buckman: Austin Dickmann (Pierz Bulldogs)
Sobieski: Luke Thoma (Flensburg)
Upsala: Myron Ripplinger (Swanville)
Avon: Mitch Reller (Freeport)
St. Stephen: Sam Butler (St. Wendel)
Draftees are only allowed to pitch and not bat. Each of the four teams that advance to the Class C state tournament out of Region 8C will be able to draft an additional two pitchers.
